Hidden Tendancies
by Rainbow.Skulldrops
Summary: Set in the fourth year, Harry's name has come out of the Goblet of fire. Tensions raise and new friendships blossom into something more? Unexpected happenings behind the scenes and expectations start to waver as loyalties tested as suspicions take root. I've put a high rating on as I don't know how far I wish to take this story. Mainly in Hermionie's POV. Enjoy! :)
1. Chapter 1

**This is an idea that I want to see how far I can take it, I have given it a high rating as I don't want to be restricted later on if I think of an interesting twist ;)**

**Please enjoy reading the story as I have writing it.**

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I was starting to get sick of this Triwizard tournament and it hadn't even start properly, a week ago Harry's name was pulled out of the Goblet of fire, and I believe him when he says he didn't put his name into the goblet. However I'm one of the very few that do believe him so I am yet again stuck in the middle of a Harry and Ron row. I love them both as they are my best friends but at times they drive me around the twist. It's hard sitting with both of them at different times; Harry sits with me and doesn't bring up the situation or Ron that often, thankfully. Ronald on the other hand when I sit with him after sitting with Harry wants to know everything that has been said and done.

"Ronald if you want to know what Harry's been saying why don't you go ask him? I've already told you that I'm not going to be the go between for the both of you" I said sighing and thinking not this again.

Ron was looking down at a piece of parchment he was fiddling with and took a deep breath in before looking up at me.

"That's what you both want isn't it, for me to go grovelling to Potter" he snapped pointing his thumb in Harry's direction. Harry looked up at the sound of his name and rolled his eyes and went back to his potions essay at the other end of the room.

"You know what Ron at times you wouldn't think you are mine and Harry's best friend, the way you treat us" I said as I threw my quill on to the desk.

I knew we were going to have a row; there had been one brewing all day with Ron's dark looks and ignoring me when I'm with Harry. This was now row number four this week. I was getting towards my breaking point with them both. At least Harry understood and didn't probe about what Ron was saying about him; Harry had closed up a bit. This was understandable with the whole wizarding world watching his every move.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ron said his face starting to go a slight shade of red.

"You know exactly what I mean Ronald" I said raising my voice a little higher. I saw Harry's head lift up out of the corner of my eye and I saw him shake his head.

"No go on, spit it out. I'd hate for you to bottle anything up. Come on get it off your chest Granger!" Ron said also raising his voice.

I glared at him, I knew what he was trying to do, and he thought I wouldn't have a row in a crowded common room - he thought wrong.

"You really need me to tell you Ronald! You've acted like a Pratt for the last week. Do you know how you are making me and Harry feel? But no you only think of your stupid self, why would you think how upset Harry is or how I'm feeling been stuck in the middle of this?"

Ron opened and closed his mouth a couple of times thinking about what to say. I let him think of something to say as I started to measure my potions essay. Darn, three inches out, shaking my head I start thinking how to fix it when I hear Ron cough to clear his throat.

"That's beside the point, if you two were my best friends you would be telling me what's going on" he said in a low voice.

"Going on?" I muttered not looking up from my essay. Here we go I think to myself, we are finally getting to the bottom on this.

"Yeah, first of all with the Goblet" then he paused as if he were thinking whether he should mention what was really on his mind. This pause caused me to look at him, when I looked up at his face, is face was bright red with either anger or embarrassment I didn't know. This is not going to be good I thought to myself.

"Come on Ronald, don't be shy tell me what other deep dark secrets me and Potter has been keeping from you!" I said sarcastically with my voice dragging the sarcasm on the word Potter. At this I saw Harry sigh and being to pack up his bag.

"Well about you two, you have to know what people have been saying about you two" he said starting to lose his temper. I started to open my mouth to say something but he cut me off before I could.

"Come on, you have to know what it looks like, all the walks around the lake and sitting with him on breaks. Hugging him, linking him and laughing at his pathetic jokes" he spat at me.

This was my breaking point I stood up and started to pack my bag. Throwing things in clumsily not looking at him knowing I will regret what I say to him. How could he really be that stupid?

"So it's true Harry Potter is going out with Hermione Granger?" he shouted. This caused the whole common room to go deadly quiet. Oh no Ron I thought, please don't set off another rumour. This was the last thing Harry needed.

I turned around and glared at Ron, he was biting his lip as if he just regretted what he had just said.

"You are just as bad as the rest of them, with their rumours and lies" I shout at Ron. Ron looks scared as if I'm going to jump over the table at him. He opens his mouth but I start to cut him off like he did with me just a little while ago.

"No me and Harry aren't going out, as you well know. You shouldn't even have to ask that. But saying that you're just as stupid to think Harry had put his own name in the goblet". I chucked the last book into my bag and started to walk away from the table.

"You would say that wouldn't you, you must have a thing for champions. What's the matter Harry's not good enough for you? I've heard all about Krum following you around like a little lost puppy. You have your sights set very high Granger; no one must amount to much if your name didn't come out of that Goblet"

This caused me to stand completely still, why was he so mean? He was trying to humiliate me in front of everyone because I wouldn't side with him over Harry. I felt tears starting to gather in my eyes and a lump starting in my throat. I quickly wiped the tears away and swallowed the lump in my throat. Yes it was true that Victor had started to sit with me in the Library. But there was nothing in it; he said he wanted some peace and quiet away from the other girls. He said I was the only one that didn't care about his fame and wouldn't ask questions. It hurt me so much that he would think I was so shallow, that I would only go out or be with anyone because of fame and their status.

I turned around and looked at Ron who was now standing up and looking at me, his face bright red and his fists balled up. I looked over to Harry and he was glaring at Ron, oh god I was thinking, things are only going to get worse. As I started to look back at Ron I caught Ginny staring at me, she looked upset and was shaking her head. Not her as well, I would explain to her later.

"You know what Ronald Weasley; you can think whatever you want. I'm getting sick of all the arguments and hassle you cause. It's obvious you have some sick ideas in your head about me and Harry or me and Victor" I said walking slowly towards the table. Ron took a step back from the table but I kept walking towards the table until I was stood behind my chair.

"I now know what you think of me, you're losing friends like they are going out of fashion. Harry last week, me this week. I'd watch out Neville you'll be next" and with this I walked out of the common room and through the fat lady.

I didn't hear a sound as the portrait shut.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all the follows and reviews so far. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. **

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As I was walking down the corridor my mind was flooding with emotion. How dare he talk to me like that, especially in front of everyone in the common room? God he infuriates me at times, why do I even bother with him? I should have known he was going to be a swine from when I first met him. Calling me behind my back and rolling his eyes. How I managed to last this far I will never know.

My mind was racing so much that I didn't even realise that I was on the third floor corridor at half eight at night. He just made me so mad that I needed to get out of there. I was in such a deep thought it caught me off guard when I was knocked to the floor by a hard object.

"What the…." I said snapping out of my daydream of hitting Ronald over the head with a very large textbook.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. Are you okay?" I heard a low voice say. When I looked up I saw a tall lad with grey eyes and dark brown hair looking back at me. He reached his hand out and I looked at his hand for a few seconds. As I put my hand in his I felt this little electric shock pass through me, ignoring it slightly I let him help me off the floor.

"Erm yeah thanks" I muttered slightly embarrassed that he just helped me off the floor. "It's me who should be saying sorry to you. I wasn't watching where I was going" I quickly added.

"It's okay, you sure you're not hurt. That was quite a landing you had on the floor" he asked concerned.

I nodded shyly; I didn't know why I ask being so embarrassed for. I picked my bag up off the floor and slung the handle over my shoulder. I started fidgeting with a loose thread on the handle and slowly looked up at him.

"Are you sure you're okay? You look like you have been crying" he said quietly.

I wiped my face noticing that there were tears running down my face, I didn't even notice them. It just goes to show how annoyed I am at Ronald. I smile at myself thinking that I only call him them when I am annoyed at him. I snap this thought out of my head quickly as the thought of Ron was bringing the flood of annoyance back.

"Yeah I'm fine, I just have a lot on my mind" I said flicking a piece of hair away from my face. He looked at me for a couple of minutes. His eyes closing slightly as if he was thinking of a hidden meaning, I bit my lip and I noticed him shake his head.

"Hmm if you're sure, if you want to talk" he said stopping as my eyes squinted a little bit with confusion. He put his arms up defensively and quickly added before I could say anything "or if you ever need someone just to listen then I can be that guy... If you want me to".

My brow came together in confusion; this boy has rarely spoken to me before. The only conversations that I have had with him were conversation pleasantries when we are at the Quidditch World Cup. Short little answers and awkward hellos and goodbyes that passed very quickly in the hustle and bustle that surrounded us.

Yet again he snapped my out of a daydream by waving an outstretched hand in front of my face. His face also confused due to my delayed reaction to answer his question. God I must look like a complete idiot to him.

"Erm I better get going, I don't want to get wrong for walking around at night" I said quickly and start to turn around. I feel his hand on my fore arm, I look up at him. His face covered with concern, his eyes moved to the end of the corridor and grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me into an alcove under a drape with him.

"What on earth!" I shout and he turns around with a finger in front of his mouth. I see him adjust the drape a little to make it look like more realistic to show that there wasn't two people hiding behind it. I hear footsteps walking past and someone muttering. My eyes open in shock realising I nearly was about to get found.

As my luck would have it they stand next to the drape for a while, it took me a matter of seconds to realise that there wasn't just one person just a couple of feet away. There was two one sounded like Harry and I couldn't recognise the other voice.

"I hope we can find her" I heard Harry say "I've never seen her so upset like this before" he added.

"I'm sure we will" said a quiet voice. I strained my ears towards them trying to figure out who it was. I felt an arm tighten around me and push me back a little bit. I must have been moving too much to be nearly found.

"Are you sure she came this way when you saw her" I heard Harry say worried. I bit my lip; he must be really worried about me. I don't know how I looked when I was shouting at Ron in the common room, and of course I didn't realise I had been crying until it was pointed out to my new friend I was currently hiding with.

I looked up at him and he looked down, his eyes full of concern. I noticed a smile reassuring smile spread across his face. I couldn't help but to smile back. I was concentrating looking at him that I didn't notice that Harry and the unknown person had walked away until felt the arm relax and starting to lift the drape up so I could walk out of it.

I stepped out of the drape and looked up at him. He had a small smile spread across his face.

"I'm sorry about that I didn't know who that was. I didn't want us to get into trouble" he said still smiling at me.

"What you smiling at?" I asked with worrying dripping from my voice. What had I done to cause myself further embarrassment?

"Nothing" he said shaking his head.

I looked down feeling a little let down. I must have done something but he obviously didn't want to tell me as I must have already seemed too upset to upset me further.

"I'll walk you back to your common room if you want or whatever" he said fiddling with one of his nails on his long fingers.

"You don't have to do that" I said quietly. I looked down the corridor towards my common room. I didn't really want to go back just yet, with all those eyes on me and if I saw Ronald then I would definitely break down crying I knew it. Why was he always mean to me, no matter what I did for him? My mind fluttered to Harry I sighed to myself thinking that it was no offence to Harry I didn't really want to talk to him at the moment either. It wasn't his fault that I was upset but I wanted to be on my own. How could I tell this new friend of mine this without coming across as rude? I was grateful that he stopped me being found from Harry and whoever he was with. I decided that I would let him walk me back to the common room and try to get to my dormitory as quickly as I could without breaking down, having too many eyes on me and too many questions asked.

"That would be lovely" I said turning towards the end of the corridor. He walked next to me and we walked in silence for a little while. I looked at him from the corner of my eye and I saw that he was watching me. My eyes snapped in front of me, could today be any more embarrassing?

"So why are you so upset?" he said in a low voice. I walked a little further in silence thinking what I should tell him. That one of my used to be best friends basically called me shallow and a slut in front of the whole common room. I sighed and shook my head.

"You don't need to tell me" I heard him say quickly. It was then I realised he must have thought that I was shaking my head at him. I must look so moody and defensive to him

"No it's not that. It's just I don't know what to say before I get upset again" I said looking at him at the end of the sentence. His brow pulled together in concern. He stayed quiet like a like cue for me to continue if I wanted to. I bit my lip and thought to hell with it, he's going to find out tomorrow anyway.

"I had a row with Ron in the common room tonight. He first of all accused me of going out with Harry and when I shown him up denying it because it's not true" I quickly paused to watch his reaction. I couldn't read his reaction, so I continued speaking.

"He then continued to say that I only have my sights set high and that apparently I will only bother with you "that way" if your name came out of the Goblet" I muttered looking at him again.

His eyebrows moved up his forehead and he shook his head. He looked away from my and then back at me again. He put his arm on my shoulder stopping me I turned to face him with his grey eyes burning into mine.

"Are you more worried about what he said or the fact that what he said is going to be around the school tomorrow?" he said his voice full of concern.

"Well both, I don't want people thinking I am like that, because I'm not. I'm not one of those girls who will only go near those with fame and status because of those reasons" I answered back slowly. I couldn't believe how easy it was just to speak to him.

"Well I don't know you very well Hermione but even if I didn't meet you tonight and find you in this state" he said looking up and down me before continuing "I wouldn't have believed it any way. You don't seem that kind of girl".

"Thanks that's nice to hear. I wish more people will think like that, but I'm not holding my breath" I answered shaking my head slightly. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a quick hug. I tensed up I didn't expect this, I'm not saying that I don't like it – it was exactly what I needed but it was so much unexpected.

The rest of the walk back to the common was slow however helpful. I was able to speak to my new found friend very easily and even at times he made me laugh and smile.

When we got to the portrait of the fat lady we stood for a couple of seconds looking at each other.

"Well here you go" he said smiling lifting his arm to gesture towards the portrait that we had arrived. This caused me to smile; he again was trying to make me laugh.

"Well I guess I'll see you around" I said turning around towards the fat lady.

"Bye, remember what I said. If you ever need someone to talk to or to just listen you know where I am" he said still smiling at me. "Or you could send me an owl, they'll find me" he quickly adding before winking at me and walking down the staircase to go back to his common room.

I shook my head I have never had such a long conversation with him before, but I felt as if it was something that I was going to continue. I turned to the fat lady who was looking down at me; she looked tired but didn't say anything to me.

"Balderdash" I said quickly taking a deep breath before stepping through the doorway. I kept my head down as I walked towards the girl's staircase. I didn't look around toward any one. I was halfway across the common room when I heard someone say my name. I knew exactly who it was and I continued walking until I got to the staircase.

"Hermione" I heard Ron say quietly. It took all of my strength not to turn around and continue my way up the staircase. I heard him say my name for the third and final time before I slammed my dormitory door shut, making sure that he could hear me.

Lavender was already in the room and she looked up at me, and by the look she gave me I must have looked like I didn't want to speak. She just turned away and started to talk to Parvati, which would no doubt turn to gossip about what went happened earlier.

I quickly got ready for bed and as I put my head down on my pillow I thought of today's events. My row with Ronald and making a new friend - today has been a mixed bag of emotions. My head banging from the stress and as I roll onto my side to go to sleep I start to think back to tonight's events with my new friend – Cedric Diggory.


	3. Chapter 3

**Two chapters in one night, I think I know where I want to take this story. Hope your enjoying it as much as I am writing it.**

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When I woke up my head felt light as a feather and free from stress, I rolled onto my back and stretched out. I slowly sat up and pushed my hand through my hair as if trying to smooth it out; I knew this was pointless it was always going to be a bushy mess regardless what I did with it. I slowly got ready keeping my head down and my eyes away from the rest of the girls in the room. I hated how Ron made me feel like this, it make me feel like I had something to be ashamed for, even though I knew I didn't.

I stole one glance around the room and noticed that me keeping my head down was pointless; Lavender and Parvati were still asleep. It must be earlier that I thought, I quickly and quietly picked up my bag, slung it around my shoulder and shut the door quietly with a low snap. I quickly walked down the staircase and noticed an empty common room. I smiled at this and started to walk slowly across the common room to leave before anyone saw me.

I left the common room and started to head for the Great Hall, my plan was to quickly grab some toast and disappear for a couple of hours. I knew I was being stupid by reacting like this but I needed to get out of the pending backlash for at least a couple of hours.

I quickly walked into the Great Hall and noticed that there were barely any people in - no one I recognised. They weren't pointing, laughing or staring…. yet. I quickly grabbed some toast and buttered it quickly wrapped them in a napkin and left the Great Hall. I felt like I was doing really well until I got into the far part of the courtyard. I was about to walk through the archway that led the path down to the lake when I heard someone call my name. I knew I had put this off long enough and turned around to see Harry fresh faced running towards me. He stopped running when he got next to me and started to gasp for breath, he looked over to me.

"Herm…. ione, I've been….looking all over for you" he said as his gasping started to ease.

"Yeah well I wanted to be on my own for a little while, no offence to you though" I said smiling at the end of the sentence hoping that I didn't cause him offence.

"You want to go for a walk?" he asked looking hopeful.

"Yeah, come on. We can share my toast" I said linking his arm, I knew he was only trying to help and he was one of the very few people I wanted around me at the moment. We started to walk down the path and we sat at our usual spot at the tree next to the lake.

"So…" Harry said as we started to eat the toast. He started fiddling with a piece of toast; I sighed and shook my head. I needed to speak to him; he was my best friend after all.

"Yeah?" I said looking up at him, not using his cue to continue.

"I came looking for you last night, but I couldn't find you. By the time I got back to our common room Seamus said you were already in your dorm" he said still looking down at the piece of toast he was twirling in his fingers.

"Yeah I went for a walk to clear my head. I'm getting sick of the way Ron has been going on. Why must he believe the lies and rumours over us?" I said turning my eyes away knowing my eyes were starting to water. I felt Harry's hand on mine and I looked up at him, his face was full of concern and worry.

"He was still waiting when I got in, his face was in his hands and he looked upset" he said. I snatched my hand away.

"Have you forgiven him?" I said my eyes starting to water with rage. Harry's arms flew up defensively.

"Of course not, I was just letting you know how it was when I got in from looking for you. Come on, he wouldn't even speak to me when I came in. He just watched me walk past him and up the staircase" he said watching my reaction.

"Come on Mione, it's going to take a lot for me to forgive him. Especially after last night" said stroking my arm.

"You need a hug?" he quickly added. I nodded and slowly moved so he could wrap his arms around me. I decided that I didn't care how this looked to anyone; me and Harry knew the truth. We both felt like we were brother and sister rather than going past that line. We sat like this for what seemed hours with the reassuring rhythm of Harry's hand slowly rubbing my arm.

"Mione?" I heard a familiar voice say. No, not him please not him. I pushed my face further into Harry's robe so my face was covered.

"I think you better go" I heard Harry say sternly. I could feel him tense up around me.

"I need to speak to her" Ron said back. He stood there for a couple of minutes not saying anything else.

"I don't think she wants to speak to you Ron" Harry spat at him "and I don't blame her" he quickly added.

I shook my head confirming this, hoping he would get the hint. I heard Ron draw a breath and let it out slowly. Part of me knew that Ron wasn't going to leave until he spoke to me. I slowly pulled my head back from Harry's chest and looked up at him.

"What do you want Ronald? What's a matter hoping to catch me and my "boyfriend" around the lake so you can go back and confirm the lies you spread last night?" I shouted at him, my voice dragging the word boyfriend out. He looked back at me, I was unable to read his face. I couldn't see whether he was annoyed or upset.

"Ron just go away. I'm done with your crap, I've put up with it for far too long" I added looking back down for fear of crying in front of him even more.

"Mione, please?" he started to say before Harry stopped him.

"Look I think you need to listen to her for at least for now. You really upset her last night, you might not want to talk to me but if you want Mione to talk to you - you are going to have to left her calm down" he said looking at me at the end of the sentence. I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off as well.

"At least if she's calmed down then you know you're not going to upset her even more and cause more embarrassment. If you want to be friends with at least her again you're going to have to back off and let her make her decision" he added looking up at Ron.

Ron looked from me to Harry and then back to me again. He shook his head and turned around to start walking back to the castle. I looked at Harry; I couldn't believe he just said that.

"You didn't need to do that" I said quickly wiping my eyes on the sleeve of my robes.

"Yeah I did. It bought you a little bit of time, if you want to speak to him again, at least you have the breathing space to think things through" he said with a small smile.

"You are really a nice guy Harry Potter" I said giving him a quick hug and a quick kiss on his cheek.

"You're meant to think that, your my "girlfriend" remember?" he said laughing.

"Oh yeah how could I forget?" I said tapping my head with the palm of my hand and laughing as well. "We better go to class, we'll be late" I said getting up. Harry got up and shoved our rubbish in his pocket.

"Pass me your hand Miss Granger, we can't let our adoring public down now can we?" he said still laughing at joking about. I put my hand in his knowing it was only a joke and we walked and laughed our way to charms. I felt slightly bad when we walked past Ginny, knowing that she had feeling for Harry. I tried to look at her to tell her that it wasn't what it seemed but she looked away from me. Her face going bright red, I decided the only way she was going to listen is if I sent her an owl later and try to explain. If she reads it was another thing.

The day passed very quickly, me and Harry kept ourselves to our selves, when we had our dinner I felt Cedric's eyes on me. When I met his glance he looked at me, his brow brought together in confusion. I smiled at him and I say this smile stretch across his face. The rest of the day went without a hitch, probably because me and Harry had both decided to ignore the comments and people staring at us. Ron's eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he saw me and Harry walking hand in hand to potions.

When I we got back to the Great Hall that evening and had our meal I looked over to Ginny and caught her staring. She dropped her glance continued to eat her baked potato, her face still red and her lips pouted. I sighed and pulled Harry closer to me so I could whisper in his ear.

"Will you come to the owlery with me after dinner? There's a letter I need to send" I asked. Harry nodded and continued to eat his tea. When we both left the table together eyes followed us as we left the room. When I got to the owlery I pulled out some parchment and quickly wrote the below note:

"_Hi Ginny,_

_You can choose to rip this up and not read it if that is what you want but please read this._

_I know you have feelings for Harry and can ensure you that it is not what it looks like. I know you probably won't believe me. _

_Please can we meet up and discuss this?_

_I miss you._

_Love Hermione xx"_

I sighed as I re read it, Harry looked at me confused and I shook my head. Harry couldn't know or read this note. He didn't know that Ginny had feelings for him, and I wasn't going to tell him either as it wasn't my place to say.

I gave the note to a Hogwarts owl and told them to give it to Ginny Weasley, this confused Harry even more.

"You could have used Hedwig you know" he said as I linked him and we walked back to our common room.

"It's okay Harry, Hedwig needs her rest she has just come from a job from snuffles" I added laughing at him.

"Yeah, I suppose" he said going quiet for a little while. I squeezed his arm and he looked down at me. I knew he was worried about Sirus; his letters were getting shorter and more alarming. He had been threatening to come back to Hogwarts because of Harry's scar hurting and the dream he had started to have.

As we walked into the common room I noticed Ginny sitting with someone in her year who I didn't know and Ron was sat with Dean and Neville staring at me and Harry. His eyes lingering on the fact that I was still linking him.

"I'm going to have an early night Harry" I said as I let go of his arm.

"Okay, night night Mione" he said with a small smile. I walked slowly upstairs and almost fell asleep instantly when my head touched the pillow glad that today was a lot better than the last.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the little slight delay in getting this chapter done, its been a little hectic and it took a little while to figure out where I was going with this. Thank you for all the follows and reviews you have left me. Enjoy**

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The next day I waited eagerly for Ginny to either send an owl back or to come and speak to me. This didn't happen. Neither did it on the next day, I was starting to get worried as it was now four days since sending the message and I didn't hear anything. Me and Harry was still spending quite a lot of time together and I still only saw him as a brother – nothing more. This is what I needed to tell Ginny, I needed to get her to understand.

My hopes were built up when I saw an owl fly towards me when sitting in the library. I eagerly ripped open the letter. My face dropped when I saw that it wasn't from Ginny.

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"_Dear Hermione_

_I hope you don't mind me writing to you like this but I enjoyed our little stroll last week. I meant it when I said that I'm a listening ear for you. _

_I hope you don't think I am prying into your business but you have me a little confused. You said you and Potter weren't an item however you walk around like you are. Is this the case?_

_You can tell me to keep my nose out and I will understand it just I'm trying to figure you out. The person I bumped into last week and the one I see walking around with Potter seem to be two different people._

_Your confused friend_

_Cedric x"_

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My eyes opened in shock as I read this letter, I watched as the dark brown owl flew away. I needed to put a stop to this straight away. I picked up another piece of parchment and thought for a couple of seconds before writing:

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"_Dear Cedric_

_No I don't mind you writing to me, it shows you care. That's nice to know, I'm not very popular with many people at the moment as you have probably guessed._

_I don't mind you asking - I now consider you as a friend so ask away. I'm sorry that I have confused you I didn't mean to. _

_Within regards to your question I am not going out with Harry, we've known each other long enough to class each other as brother and sister. It would be very wrong to cross that line. The reason why we are acting the way we are because we are trying to show people we don't care and it's meant as a joke. However people aren't taking this as a joke so it's our fault of the backlash we are now getting._

_I am still the girl you met last week; I'm just getting run down with everything that is going on. Ron is still being Ron and the only people nowadays who want to bother with me are you and Harry. I feel as if when I'm walking around at school that I need to pretend to be someone else. That sounds stupid doesn't it? It just I feel as if I don't do this I will just crumble and break apart._

_I hope that answered some of your questions. I look forward to your reply, if you wish to send one._

_Love Hermione xx"_

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After rereading it I sighed and packed my bag together. I didn't know why it was so easy to speak to Cedric, whether it was in person or in letters. I put my letter from Cedric in the front of one of my workbooks and walked out of the library and straight to the Owlry; I repeated what I done with Ginny's letter and gave it to a school owl.

I walked into the Great Hall and I saw Ginny sitting on her own, right this is it. I walked straight up to her and sat next to her. I saw her tense up and look at me from the corner of her eye. I began piling food onto my face. There was an awkward silence for a couple of minutes before I broke the silence.

"Did you get my letter?" I asked as I picked up a knife and a fork. I heard her sigh and look towards me.

"Yeah I did" she said putting her fork down. She turned to look at me, her face bright red but she didn't sound angry.

"Ginny look, there is never going to be a me and Harry. I don't see him that way and neither does he for me" I said putting a hand on her shoulder. I felt her shoulder recoil under my hand so I moved it and let my hand fall to my lap.

"Well it looks that way" she said looking down into her lap.

"Ginny it was meant as a joke" I said sternly. "I don't like Harry that way, how many times do I have to tell you?" I added as I cut up my potatoes.

"Sorry it's just, it's so hard to believe when everyone's saying it and your walking around hand in hand and linking him all of the time" she said I looked over to her and I could see that tears were building in her eyes. It must have really hurt her to see us like that.

"I understand that, but Harry is not my type. Remember our talks over the summer" I said with a smile.

Ginny looked up and smiled, "Yeah Harry's totally not your type" she grinned.

"Were you ever going to answer my letter?" I asked turning my whole body to face hers.

"I suppose, I think I was just trying to calm down" she said turning to face me.

"It's okay Gin, I know how it looks. If the papers aren't harassing Harry they are harassing me. All I did to start this was hug him after his name was pulled out of the Goblet and then all this kicked off" I looked at her, I bit my lip before saying "It was never meant to hurt you, I thought you would have known better".

Ginny took a deep breath in and sighed, "It's just every time I feel like I make some hedge way with Harry he shifts the goal posts. I feel as if I'm never going to get anywhere".

I take hold of her hand and gave it a light squeeze "He'll come round Gin, you know what boys are like" I said with a small smile.

This made Ginny chuckle and shake her head, this caused her curls to bounce slightly. I let her hand go and pick up my knife and fork to eat the remainder of my meal.

"Anyway" I said a couple of seconds later as I was cutting up some chicken "I've heard rumours that Neville has his sights set on you" I said grinning at her. Out of the corner of my eye I could see her start to smile.

"Ginny Weasley, what are you hiding?" I said watching her facer go a slight shade of pink.

"He asked me if I would like to go to the next Hogsmead weekend with him" she muttered.

"No way, what did you say?" I asked grabbing her arm and giving it a light squeeze. She didn't need to answer as a small smile spread across her face.

"Aww Gin, I'm happy for you" I said giving her a hug. As I pulled away I noticed that out of the corner of my eye I saw Ron enter the Great Hall. It took a few seconds for him to notice I was with Ginny and I started to see him walk towards us.

"I think I better go Gin, I don't want another argument" I said as I started to stand up.

"You shouldn't have to go, he knows he's in the wrong" Ginny said looking sad she must have missed me as much as I had been missing her.

"I'll see you soon" I said sadly as I walked through the Great Hall. I heard someone call out my name but I just let it getting sick of feeling like this. Harry Potter is just a close friend and because of this Twiwizard tournament everything is just getting twisted and made into something it isn't. I made my way up to the library and found a dark corner when I hoped I wouldn't be bothered and plagued with questions about me and my "boyfriend".

I was sat there for what seemed like fifteen minutes before I heard someone cough. My eyes didn't move from my book, reading about advanced transfiguration needed your full concentration. It probably wasn't even someone trying to get my attention anyway; barely anyone spoke to me nowadays.

"Her-mi-o-ninny?" I heard a low confused voice say. I looked up and saw a very confused Victor Krum looking down at me, I glanced up and him and noticed that my vision was going blurred. I wiped my eyes and noticed that tears were starting to appear. How I must have looked to Victor. I wiped both my eyes with the sleeve of my robe and placed my book down. He slowly sat down next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. It felt nice to be held and it was comforting but my first thought was no as this would be in the daily prophet tomorrow. I tried to pull away but I felt his arm wrap tighter around my shoulder.

"You okay?" Victor said sounding very concerned. This wasn't the first hug I'd received from Victor and I knew it wasn't going to be the last. He was one of the very few people that I needed around me and actually wanted to be around me.

"Yeah I'll be fine. Stupid as it sounds I didn't know I was crying" I answered; I noticed my voice sounded weak. It's just I have never felt this isolated since I joined this school for the first few months. It hurt me then and it hurts me now, and Ron is always against me at both times. He might always say he's sorry but he always manages to hurt me one way or another. At a time like this when the world is against Harry we should be together not arguing and falling apart. I did miss Ron and part of me knew in time that I would forgive him with time, I always have done.

I pull away from Victor and smile at him, I start to pick up my book and place it into my bag. He watches me for a short while before speaking.

"Ron hurt you again didn't he?" he said in a low growl. I sighed and looked at him, his face was all tense and I could see that we was grinding his teeth together.

"Yeah but leave it. It's okay" I said putting my hand on his, he turned his hand around and gave it a little squeeze. He nodded his head and he stayed quiet as he watched my pack my bag and as I stood up. I felt his arm on my forearm causing me to look at him, his face was blank.

"You shouldn't have to put up with this, you a nice girl" he said and he cut me off before I could speak.

"If he was such a good friend he won't want to see you like this. I don't like him for this"

"Victor it's fine really me and Ron have always been like this, something happens we argue one of us says something we shouldn't we don't speak to each other for a while then we make up" I said slowly. The sense of Déjà vu was overwhelming; this caused me to ask myself a couple of questions. First of all how many times was I going to let this happen, secondly what was going to be the breaking point and finally how it was going to affect me in the long run?

Snapping me out of my thought was noticing that Victor was now stood next to me; I looked up at him and noticed that his eyes were cautious as not knowing what to say or do.

"No friend would want to see one of his friends cry. It wrong" he said in a slow calm voice.

"It will be okay Victor, I promise" I muttered as I picked my bag up and wrap the bag around my shoulder.

"As long as you are sure Her-mi-o-ninny. Can I walk you to your common room?" he asked trying to move the conversation on. I quickly nodded and was walked out of the library, my eyes watching the amount of people watching me walk with Victor Krum International celebrity. I bet they were all thinking what Ron had said to me, that I was only bothering with Harry and Victor because their names came out of the Goblet. Only we knew different.

We walked quietly only mentioning little things like weather and what we thought the first task would bring. When we got to my common room Victor said good bye and quickly bowed as he left to go back to his ship.

I made my way quickly back to my dormitory quite quickly, I flung myself and my bag onto my bed and closed the shutters so I wouldn't be disturbed. I would sit a little while and read trying to calm myself down and being thankful that I have friends like Harry, Ginny Cedric and Victor.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you for taking the time to read this story, reviewing it, favouring and following it. I'm enjoying writing it and I think I know where I want to take this however new ideas keep appearing so watch this space!**

**Sorry that this has taken a while to post this chapter, needed to take a little bit more time on it. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

The next day flew over quite quickly, Harry was going to have a meeting with the judges tonight as the first task was coming up soon. I wonder what it is, I hope Harry will be fine, he's still not getting any support whatsoever from Ron. At the moment all Ron does now is sit in the corner with Neville, Dean and Seamus and every now and again he will look in either mine or Harry's direction. He quickly looks away of course if we catch him.

"Do you think he will ever come round?" I ask Harry after catching Ron looking at us for the third time now. With this Harry looks up and watches Ron for a couple of seconds before looking at me and shaking his head.

"I don't know, we've never stopped talking for this long, he still thinks I put my name in the Goblet" he said as he threw his quill on to the table. I put my hand on his forearm and I bite my lip. I knew this was a sensitive subject for Harry, I probably shouldn't have brought it up.

"I'm sorry Harry, I know it's awkward for you being in the same dorm and I know it upsets you. I shouldn't have brought it up" I muttered as I gave his arm a light squeeze. He sighed and put his left hand over my hand and squeezed it.

"Don't apologise for him mione. You don't control him or his thoughts. I'm sure he will come round after I'm nearly killed by a troll or a dementor" he said and his eyes all of a sudden looked worried. Harry was going into this with a slight disadvantage the other champions had three or four years experience ahead of Harry and I think this bothered him quite a bit.

"You'll be fine Harry. You've dealt with a lot more than the rest of us put together" I squeezed his arm once more and then returned my hand to pick up a piece of parchment that was in front of me. Harry just looked at me for a couple of seconds and began to stare at his half completed transfiguration essay.

"Sorry, I'm making things worse aren't I?" I asked watching his face. He quickly glanced at me before dropping his gaze to the same place as before.

"You're not mione; it's just every time I think life can't throw anything else at me stuff like this happens. Then to make it worse people think I like living like this, what I wouldn't give to just have one year, one month or even just one day for no one to know my name" he said quickly. I felt my brow pull together in confusion; I knew Harry had felt like this but for him to say it was another. This just showed me how upset and down this tournament was making him feel, that with his scar hurts and these dreams – he wasn't going through a good time really. But saying that the things Harry had been through it always seemed this way.

"Harry do you want to go for a walk?" I asked thinking that he needs to talk and get something off his chest.

"What's the point? We always have prying eyes on us like we are doing something wrong" said Harry "You know what they'd probably act less surprised if we were" he added quickly throwing a scrunched up piece of parchment at the table.

"What?" I asked shocked. I never thought Harry would say something like that, what was I meant to say to that? I knew Harry had been hiding some of his feelings away from me. This always brought the paranoid part of me back to the surface in case he was trying to spare my feelings and not to hurt me.

"I didn't mean it like that, I wasn't suggesting anything. It's just why does it always have to be me? he said in a low voice trying to hide our conversation away from those that were sat around us.

"I don't know Harry. I really don't" I answered not looking at him. My mind still wondering whether he was trying to spare my feelings. I felt Harry's eyes on mine and this caused me to look up at him. He gave me a small smile which in turn caused me to smile back. I knew I was being silly, and there was no need to feel paranoid.

"My life feels like it has already been planned for me and I feel like my every move is watched, exaggerated and penalized" he said his eyes dropping to his hands in his lap.

"Harry I don't know what to say to make it better. you know I'm always here for you whenever you need me" I said quietly. A smile spread across his face and I watched him quietly as he packed his school bag up.

"That's why you are one of my best friends" he said and then his eyes snapped open when he realised what he had said. We both looked at each other and I smiled. We both knew that given a little bit more time there would be three people sitting around this table laughing and carrying on. The person we were both missing was only sat at the other end of the room sat with people who we both knew weren't his comfort zone. As stupid as this sounds I have been Harry and Ron's best friend for four years now and when we argue or fall out it just makes us appreciate each other more. I argue with Ron more than Harry of course, I think I can count the number of arguments I have had with Harry on one of my hands, but Ron he is a completely different matter.

"I know what you're thinking, you're missing him like I am missing having him around aren't you?" I heard Harry say bringing me out of my thoughts. I nod but think to myself that this was going to take a lot more than not talking to becoming close friends again.

"Yeah I do miss him, but I think there's a lot of work to do before I trust him again. Look at everyone watching us thinking we are love's young dream. However there is rumours that I'm cheating on you with Victor. Me and Victor aren't like that, but because of him people think I'm shallow" I add as my eyes start to water.

"Don't let them see you cry, Mione. People can think what they want as long you are know the truth" Harry said picking his bag up and pushing back onto his chair leaving him space to get up. Before getting up he picked his bag up and threw it around his shoulder, "Things will work out for the best, and when I come back from this meeting if you've made up I won't hold it against you" Harry quickly added he quickly winked at me and then left the common room. People's head turned and watched him leave the room, I noticed that some heads turned back towards my direction before continuing with whatever they were doing before Harry left. I quickly sighed and started to continue to finish my essay, if I finished it tonight then I could do some light reading later on.

"Erm, do you mind if I sat here?" I heard a nervous voice, my eyes didn't leave my essay. He didn't wait very long did he? Harry had barely left the room and he had came across to speak to me. However this was the first time I had been on my own or not hiding away in my dormitory. I slowly looked up at him, his brow pulled together in concern. I bit my lip and start to think how I was going to get through this, yes I did want Ron back as a friend but I was still hurt by what he had done.

"I'm not stopping you" I muttered my eyes dropping back down to my essay. I chose a sentence to focus on in the event that he upset me again I had something to focus on so I wouldn't cry. I heard the chair move out and I saw out of the corner of my eye as he cautiously sat down next to me. We sat like this for what must have been at least ten minutes before I heard him clear his throat.

"Yes Ronald?" I ask quietly knowing that this was going to be an awkward conversation as it always was when this happened. I must have caught him off guard as this seemed to silence him for a little longer. I quickly stole a look at him and dropped my gaze immediately back onto my essay.

"LookHermionieIwanttosaythatI'msorry" I heard very quickly, I knew what he was trying to say however I only made out the two words "Hermione" and "sorry". I put my essay on the desk and say up straight so I was looking at him. Ron was sat looking at me as if I was about to explode, given past arguments there was reason to support this.

"Sorry Ronald I didn't catch that" I said not breaking eye contact with him. I know it might seem cruel but in a way I wanted him to suffer a little longer, because of him I have been suffering due to the rumours that he had started off - saying that he only added fuel to the fire. Having two boys as your best friends always started rumours off. I watched as Ron took a deep breath in and stare at his hands under the table, I bit my lip waiting for his reply.

"I'm sorry Mione" he muttered quickly not looking in my direction. I saw his hands tense up and he finally looked at me. His blue eyes wandered up to my face and the back to somewhere on the table. I sighed and shook my head, knowing that at some point that I was going to give in.

"Ron, the thing is yes you and I both know that at some point I will forgive you and we will be friends again" I said this watching his face and as I watched as a small smile started to spread across his face it made me wonder what it was that I was trying to say. Pushing that thought from my head I continued "but all of the rumours you have started and I know that me and Harry hasn't helped" I said adding quickly holidng my hand up to stop him as Ron opened his mouth to say something. His smile faded and he quickly shut his mouth.

"You have really hurt me and Harry, why you won't believe us over everything else I will never know. I guess what I'm trying to say is that yes I will speak to you but at the moment I can't trust you" I said this watching his face, I watched as his ears turned red and as he began to start to bit his lip.

"I've really screwed up this time haven't I?" he finally said after what felt like hours, I nodded and glanced back down to my hands that were balanced on the edge of the table.

"I didn't really mean those things I said" he said with his lip starting to pout, I knew this was the case however I felt as if all the trust that had been built up over the years had gone, and I knew it was going to take time to build it back up.

"Part of me knows that Ron, but I still can't trust you at the moment. You know I'm insecure about myself and after what you did put me straight into the limelight. The rumours that have been going around are horrific, have you heard what has meant to have been happening in the library with Victor, or by the lake with Harry? It sounds like I have been very busy" I said quickly trying not to cry, I gulped forcing the building lump back down my throat.

"I didn't meant for that to happen, and I'm sorry for putting you through what has happened, I know you are insecure Mione and I've told you in the past that you don't need to be" he said not moving his eyes from my face.

"But you knocked all that confidence away by what you said, Ron most of the school thinks I'm going out with Harry and sleeping with Victor" I whispered quickly so hopefully no one heard. "Don't you realise how much that has hurt me? It's going to take time for me to trust anything you say" I added slowly as I was focusing on my hands so I wouldn't break down and cry. I could feel my eyes starting to water. I wiped my eyes quickly on the sleeve of my robe and took a deep breath to try and compose myself. I didn't want to be seen crying in public, I was already getting watched enough without that flying around the school as well.

"I'm sorry Mione, I want you back as my friend and if I need to earn your trust back then that is what I am going to do" he said putting his hand on my arm. I didn't move away from the movement like I thought I would but I didn't reach out either.

"What about Harry?" I asked and with this Ron removed his hand from my arm and finally took his gaze from me and dropped it to the floor. There was silence between the two of us for what seemed like quiet a while. I sat staring at my fingers and Ron didn't do anything either as if he was some how frozen into his seat.

"I don't know" he finally said and this made me look up at his finally, our eyes met and I couldn't read what his face like I could have done before.

"I mean I miss him too, but after everything that has been said and done I don't know whether it can be fixed" he added still watching my reaction. I bit my lip and shook my head looking down at the table once more. I couldn't go back to the way it was before speaking to them both separately.

"Do you want to fix it?" I muttered not looking at him.

"Well yeah, I miss my two best friends" he said quickly.

"Well I'm not speaking for Harry but if you want to fix things you need to speak to him to at least to try to fix it" I said still not looking at him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him nodding.

"I mean it Ron this can't go on, for all of our sake this needs sorting" I said looking up and watching his reaction.

"Thanks for letting me speak to you Mione, I'm going to go. I need time to think" he said standing up slowly. I smiled at him and he smiled back. I watched as he walked through the common room and up the stairs to his dorm. I sighed as I heard his door shut and began to pack my bag up, I'll have an early night tonight I thought to myself. I quietly walked through the common room ignoring the whispers and the looks as I walked past people.

When I got into my dorm I let the door shut with a low snap and leaned again the door for a couple of minutes. I felt as if a weight had been lifted from me slightly, yes things hadn't got better but at least it was looking like it was going to go that way. I noticed that no one else was in the dorm so I quickly got changed and climbed into bed.

I had just got myself comfortable into bed with a book when I heard something knocking on the window. I slowly got up and went to the dorm window to see a dark brown owl staring at me. I cautiously opened the window and let the owl in thinking who would be writing to me at the time. I detached the letter from its leg and began to open the letter.

* * *

_"Dear Hermionie_

_I'm glad you don't mind me writing to you, I know we don't know each other that well. It's just I didn't want to upset you further or make you think that I was just someone trying to get information out of you. I can assure you that this is not the case at all. I've been hearing the rumours and the things that are being said about you and Harry and I would like to let you know that I don't believe any of them._

_Thank you for clearing the Potter thing up for me, you didn't need to if you didn't want to. It's just like I said before that I am trying to figure you out. I know that sound's weird but you seem very different and to me that is a good thing - I just thought I'd mention that in case you thought I meant differently._

_I'm happy that you consider me as a friend as in turn this is how I class you and if you are happy to I would like to get to know you better. I know you are going through a bad time at the moment so I will understand if you want me to leave you alone._

_You shouldn't have to hide the person that you are, even if you feel as if the whole world is watching. Someone once told me that when you have the biggest audience on you this is the time that you really shine._

_Cedric"_

* * *

I smiled at the letter and quietly shut the dorm window as the room had started to get cold as the brown owl had left a little while ago. Thinking of a reply in my mind as I climbed into bed thinking that things were hopefully going to get better from now on.


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter is a little different to the rest that I have done, thank you for sticking with me this far.**

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_"Cedric,_

_Thank you for your letter, I cheered me up when I read it. I know you aren't trying to get information out of me or trying to upset me. Please be assured that I don't think that._

_The amount of rumours that are going around about me is ridiculous, when I hear them I find them overwhelming. I dread to think what I have or haven't been doing when I get up every morning._

_Trying to figure me out? Should I make that easy or hard for you? If you want to ask me anything just ask away, for some reason I feel as if I can talk to you very easily._

_That is one wise person Cedric, is that how you are feeling at the moment?_

_Hermione."_

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_I'm glad that I have been some use and have cheered you up a bit. You should ignore every rumour set against you, at least you know the truth._

_Whether you want to make it easy or hard for me Granger is completely up to you - but might I say this that I like a challenge._

_At the moment I do feel like I am on a stage, like yourself and Harry I'm being watched as well. However no one really takes any notice of me, as I am just a hufflepufff. Yes my name has come out of the Goblet of Fire but the only thing that has come out about me is that a fabricated story about me and Cho Chang._

_I also find it very easy to talk to you, even though there is a gap between our ages I feel as if I can speak to you._

_Cedric"._

* * *

_"Cedric,_

_I've heard more about you than Cho Chang, not that I believe it thou. This tournament has taught me to only believe the things that you know are going to be true._

_You like a challenge, well that should make things very interesting Diggory._

_I don't know what to say Cedric, yes you are older than me and god only knows if anyone knew you were sending me letters. I like speaking to you, its worth the rumours. You can tell me when and if you would like me to leave you alone - quoted from someone, I wonder who._

_you're not just a hufflepuff to me._

_Hermione."_

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_What have you heard?_

_I don't want you to leave me alone, why would I want that? I feel as if you are one of the very view people who I can actually talk to at the moment._

_I might be sick of the hype of this tournament, but without it I wouldn't have made a new friend in you._

_Make it challenging Granger, I'll try to succeed. I in turn will make it a challenge for you to get to know me - if you're up to it._

_Not just a hufflepuff - then what am I?_

_Cedric"_

* * *

_"Cedric_

_Nothing much really, apparently you've got a sting of admirers, planning on breaking up with Cho and a small gathering of friends plotting against the rest of the champions. All of which I don't believe might I add._

_I'm perfectly up to it Cedric, but are you? What do you want to know?_

_I didn't think of it that way, I doubt you would have never spoken to me again after the world cup if it wasn't for the tournament. Saying that we did have little conversation at the world cup - as you were picking me up off the floor. You know what you're getting quite a reputation for doing that, that's twice now._

_You're a friend who I can depend on. I don't know whether I am letting you in too much though._

_Hermione"_

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_Now I have heard something new, I can assure you I don't plan on breaking up with Cho - impossible as we aren't together, and I am most certainly not a leader of a cult! Really these rumours are a bit thick aren't they._

_1) What is your favourite colour?_

_2) Do you like to travel and where have you been?_

_3) Do you have any brothers or sisters?_

_4) What is your favourite ice cream flavour? _

_5) What do you plan to do after leaving Hogwarts?_

_6) What do you like to do in your spare time?_

_7) What is the last book you have read - that wasn't for studying?_

_8) What would be you're ideal job, if you could do anything?_

_Yeah it would seem that all I do is pick you up from the floor, I can see a pattern starting to emerge. Are you doing this on purpose?_

_I'm glad to hear that you think of me as your friend, I too can depend on you. Why do you think you might be letting me in to much for? Is there something wrong?_

_Cedric"_

* * *

_"Cedric_

_That is quite a list there, but I'll try to answer them to the best I can._

_1 - My favourite colour is Lilac. Yes I know a typical girl colour, but what can I do?_

_2 - I have travelled but only a couple of times, just before my third year I went to France and it was amazing. However I did spend most of it researching for an essay there. Don't regret it though as I learnt a lot of interesting things._

_3 - No I'm an only child and have a really close relationship with my mam and dad._

_4 - Chocolate of course._

_5 - I haven't really thought about this very much but I want to do something worthwhile._

_6 - This might come as a shock to you, but in my spare time I like to read. Something that has always been second nature to me._

_7 - I laughed at the "that wasn't for studying" part. The last book I read that I didn't use for studying was a muggle book called the Silver Sword. I doubt you will have heard of it._

_8 - Like I have already said I haven't really thought about it, but I want to do something worthwhile. However now I have heard about how wizards have been treating house elves I might go down that route._

_Same questions fired straight back at you, Cedric. No I'm not falling on the floor just so you can pick me up, I think you secretly like picking me up of the floor._

_I don't know how to explain it in case you think I'm being silly. So maybe we should just forget that I wrote that?_

_Hermione"._

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_1) My favourite colour is brown, nice neutral colour._

_2) Yes like you I like to travel, I've been to Spain, Egypt and Germany. I would love to travel more._

_3) I'm also a only child as well, I don't mind but I guess it would have been nice to have a little brother or sister._

_4) Urgh, chocolate. I'm more of a mint or fudge kind of guy._

_5) After Hogwarts I want to travel a little bit, see the world the come back and settle into a job._

_6) I spend most of my spare time reading or playing or training for quidditch._

_7) No you're right I haven't heard of that book, but the last book I read was called Dracula. I like things like that - have you heard of that one? You can borrow it if you would like?_

_8) After travelling I would like to get a job as an auror or someone in the law department. Both worthwhile and saving the world as so to speak._

_I'm worried now Hermione, you don't need to tell me anything you don't want me to. If you choose not to I will resepct that, but if you change your mind you know where I am._

_Cedric"._

* * *

_"Cedric,_

_So you see yourself as a superhero saving people? You've picked me up of the floor twice now, any other life saving deeds you are wishing to do?_

_You understand a lot, there are a few things about me that I don't like and don't like to talk about. I feel as if every time I let someone close enough they hurt me, I know that sounds stupid and I have already told a couple of people. It's nothing bad so don't worry._

_I know we have only been speaking for a little while, but it feels as if I have known you a lot longer. Thank you for saying that you respect my decision to not talk about certain things. Saying that though we are becoming pretty close no doubt I'll tell you anyway._

_How was your day today? It's getting closer to the first task, hope you'll be okay._

_Hermione"._

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_I don't really see myself as a superhero, but I do like helping people. Yes I've picked you up from the floor twice but I can't help it if you are on the floor. It would be rude to leave you there._

_Yes I understand a lot, it might be that I am a little older than you but I do get what you are trying to say. Yes you are becoming one of my closest friends. I feel as if I can be myself with you. If you do or don't wish to tell me something then that's you're call - I'm certainly not going to force you._

_I see that you're finally talking to Ron now, I hope he is behaving himself. I've noticed he still hasn't sorted it out with Harry yet, which is pathetic if you ask me. You could tell that he didn't put his name in the Goblet by his reaction when he walked down into the chamber where we were. Fleur even thought he was the student telling us to go somewhere else. Did Harry tell you that?_

_It got really awkward when the teachers came in all shouting about cheating, it was very confusing. Any way enough on that my day was fine mad eye is hanging around a lot - unsure why. My dad said that he's one of the best wizard's there is apart from Dumbledore, at times though I can't see it._

_I hope I'll be okay, fingers crossed eh?_

_Cedric"._

* * *

_"__Cedric_

_Well you do spend a lot of time trying to save me? Yesterday I saw what you did when Malfoy was starting with me, you really don't need to do that. I'm used to him by now and the word mudblood has never had any affect on me anyway. But thanks anyway my white knight._

_I'm glad you understand I think that's what makes it easier to talk to you. You are becoming one of my closest friends too, a small circle that maybe but you'll know that means a lot._

_Yes Harry did mention something about that, bless him. I do worry about him at times, yes I have started talking to Ron. But that is all it is Cedric - talking. I still don't feel like I can trust him like I used to. He has made the whole school and wizarding world think I'm shallow, I'm still getting hate mail saying that I'm a heart breaker and that I don't deserve a man like Harry or Victor._

_That's strange what you said about Mad Eye, Ron's dad thinks the same as you're dad however I haven't quite been able to build an opinion on him yet._

_Hermione"._

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_That Malfoy boy is a creep and I don't want him speaking to you like that. I'm sorry but you are worth a hell of a lot more than him. If you would rather that I left you to fought you're own battles then I will do so. But don't blame me if I do get involved. You are my friend and I don't like seeing you upset. That first night when I saw you after you had had that row with Ron - I don't like seeing you like that._

_When I saw you sat with Ron today it made me wonder a few things. Why do you put up with him? The amount of arguments that you have had even I've lost count. I do feel sorry for Harry every time we have a meeting with the judges he just stands there with a blank look on his face. He rarely gets himself involved in conversation and when he does it's mostly nodding. It's only a couple of day's till the first task and I'm starting to get nervous. What happens if it is something that I can't deal with? People have died in this tournament I know they said they have made some changes but it still could happen couldn't it?_

_Cedric"._

* * *

_"Cedric,_

_I know Malfoy is a creep, sadly however he's always been that way with me - ever since I stepped foot on the Hogwart's Express four years ago. Leave him to me Cedric, I punched him in the face last year and he has weakened his resolve slightly. I won't blame you if you get involved, if my white knight sees fit who am I to argue?_

_That walk we had I'll try to not let you see me like that - I didn't mean for you to see me like that back then._

_To answer your question truthfully I don't know. Ron has and probably always will be one of my best friends. Maybe in a way I know he doesn't really mean it as I know he can fly off the handle at times - I am not defending him just trying to find ways to explain. I worry about Harry at times I really do. I know having me around is helping him however I know he missed his guy best friend. Ron has told me that he just needs time to think, I don't know what for. I could bang their heads together at times I really could. I'm sure they will sort things out soon. Not even Ron will let Harry do these tasks without him, that's the way the three of us have always been I guess._

_I'm sure you will be fine Cedric, I'll be rooting for you. However I'm also rooting for Harry and Victor as well. You're all my friends so whoever wins I'll be happy with._

_Hermione"._

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_You are never going to believe this but I know what the first task is - DRAGONS! How on earth am I going to deal with a dragon? I've just bumped into Harry and he told me, I don't know how he knows I didn't ask._

_Now I am really worried nothing I have ever learnt has training me to slay a dragon. I know you joke on about me being you're white knight but I'm really worried._

_You punched Malfoy in the face? Looks like Miss Granger knows how to defend herself, does she still need her white knight?_

_As for you hiding you're really feelings away from me, I'd rather you didn't. How can I help you if you don't let me know how you are really feeling?_

_I know you're not defending Ron, still don't understand it but it's you're call._

_I'll remember that you are rooting for me when I'm fleeing from my dragon.  
_

_Cedric"._

* * *

It went on like this for at least a week, everyday I would receive a letter from Cedric and I would send one back. The letters were getting more and more and as stupid as it sounds I feel as if I'm really getting to know the real Cedric. The guy you don't see walking around Hogwarts with his friends, the scared guy who is nervous of making a fool of himself in front of the whole world. I know that it had been such a short time knowing Cedric, but I was finding myself becoming quite close to him.

Within the last week things had changed quite a lot, Harry still sat with me like he did before me and Ron's last row but now he seemed quieter. Part of me thought that he was just being nervous like Cedric however I knew he was still having the dreams and his scar was still hurting him. Ron now sat with me and things were going okay. However I still found myself being reserved with Ron and I didn't know why. I meantioned Harry a couple of times but Ron brushed it off claiming that he was fixing it. I still don't know what he meant by this. The first task is tomorrow so let's see what it brings...


	7. Chapter 7

**Hope you liked the last chapter, got a few twists and turns coming your way, so watch this space! Thanks for the continuing support. Sorry this is only a short chapter.**

* * *

I was reading Cedric's last letter and out of the corner of my eye I saw someone walking towards me in the common room. I quickly folded the letter up and put it in my pocket. I looked up and saw a worried Harry, my brow pulled together in confusion. He learnt down so only I could hear him. I didn't take my eyes off him and to an outsider Harry probably looked like he was about to kiss me.

"Hermione" Harry whispered and he quickly looked around to see who was sitting around us. His head snapped back towards me and he looked into my eyes.

"Hermione I need you to help me" he quickly added.

"What do you think I have been trying to do Harry?" I whispered back, my eyes quickly flying over the people who were around us.

"Mione, I need to learn a summoning charm by dinner time tomorrow"

My eyes flew to his face and I quickly smiled. He smiled back but this was a different Harry to the one that I had seen over the last couple of weeks. This Harry who was now stood in front of me seemed happier and more confident. He finally has some motivation and drive to continue in this tournament, he'd figured a way to finish the first task.

It didn't take us long to get to the library, I had already had read about summoning charms but I wanted to find the book to confirm things so we had them right. Harry had told me that Professor Moody had spoken to him, shortly after telling Cedric that the first task was dragons, to play to his strengths. This had given Harry the idea that to make it through the first task and to safety from his dragon that he needed his firebolt. To do this he needed to learn a summoning charm overnight to be able to do this. Thankfully we had near enough 24 hours to do this as we were in our free period after lunch.

After finding the charm book, Wonderbook of Charms and Spells, and borrowing it from Madam Pince we found a deserted classroom, Harry sat quietly on the edge of a desk while I found the relevant page and read the information that we needed.

"The incantation for the summoning charm is Accio and this charm will cause an object that the caster desires to fly into the casters grasp" I read quietly, I looked up from the book and looked at Harry. He was looking down at the floor and was biting his lip.

"Will you think this will work Mione? if it doesn't then I'm toast" he said looking up at me, I could see the panic in his eyes for a couple of seconds before speaking again.

"Literally, if you pardon the pun" he quickly adding a smile at the end and chuckling. This was the Harry that I missed making jokes and laughing. I just hoped that after all of this he would change back into this mood setting somewhat.

"It should do, as long as you believe in it enough" I said shaking these thoughts from my mind.

"I have the motivation of a dragon, which should fix that" he said quickly. I picked up a basket of beanbags and shattered some across the floor, I explained to Harry the wand movement and how he needed to want the object to come to him. Harry nodded and tried to move a red bean bag towards him, when it didn't move he started to get upset and shaking his head. I sat and kept encouraging him.

This is how the rest of our two hour free period went, Harry wanted to skip Divination but I told him that I needed to go to ancient runes so we both decided to come back later on.

The rest of the day went by quiet quickly; Harry decided to bring his invisibility coat with him this time and to lock the classroom door so we could practice however long we wanted. After dinner we collected our things, I collected some more books and parchment so I could finish some more essays and we started to walk out of the common room.

"Mione?" I heard a voice say; I turned around and saw Ron stood behind me. He quickly glanced at Harry and looked back at me; I hadn't really seen him all day so he probably wanted to know how I was.

"Yes Ron?" I asked smiling slightly at him. He was trying to make amends he barely asked for help with his schoolwork now however I doubted that this was going to last very long.

"Can I have a quick word with you?" He asked quickly looking at Harry for a couple of seconds. Harry looked back and leant towards me and whispered in my ear.

"I'll see you there, I need to start practicing straight away" I looked at him and nodded and with that Harry was out of the common room quite quickly. I looked at Ron and I followed him to an alcove in the common room where no one could hear us.

"Look Mione, I've been thinking and I need your help" he said quietly. This confused me and I shook my head slightly.

"Everyone needs my help at the moment" I said laughing at the end of the sentence. Ron looked confused at this and he stuck his thumb out into the direction Harry had gone and began to open his mouth to question this. I shook my head and looked at him to prompt him to continue with what he needed to say. With this he shook his head as to get rid of the thought that was in his head so he could continue.

"I need your help with Harry, I tried to speak to him this morning and he just looked at me like I wasn't there, what should I do?" he asked sadly. I sighed at this Harry didn't tell me this, but saying that his mind had been pre-occupied with other things.

"Ron you need to fix this, I'm not going to speak to Harry for you. You have really hurt him this time. Did you know when you were calling him in the court yard last week that he was there on the other side of the tree reading a book? He heard everything you said about him" I told him wondering whether I had just crossed a line. Ron's eyes opened in panic, he obviously didn't know that Harry had heard. I bit my lip hoping Harry wasn't going to be mad at me; I decided that I would tell him when I saw him.

"But he should know I didn't mean them things" he muttered, he was about to continue before my glare stopped him.

"Look Ronald, you and your mouth is going to get you in real trouble one of these days" he put his arms up in defence and looked at my warily. He knew when I called him Ronald that things weren't good.

"You should learn by now that I and Harry actually get hurt by what you say, even though we have known you for four years now we are not mind readers. If you don't really mean it then maybe you shouldn't say it" I said quickly calming down by the end of the sentence. The pain from what he had said before started to resurface but I let it go knowing that I needed to for things to get better. I think this was when Ron sensed that I wasn't going to argue with him as he brought his arms down and started to shake his head.

"I know I've been an absolutely crap friend" he said sadly. I didn't really know what to say to this I sighed and put my hand on his shoulder, he looked up at me and smiled.

"You have you're moments Ron you really do" I said looking at the clock I readjusted my bag strap and gave Ron's shoulder a little squeeze. Ron winced and my eyes opened up in shock.

"Sorry did I squeeze a little too hard, I didn't mean..." I started to say but Ron held his hand up.

"No Mione it wasn't you, I'll explain later on. You go see Harry he needs you at the moment. I wish I could be there for him, if only if he would let me" Ron said sadly and before I could say anything he was at the other end of the common room.

"Ron?" I shouted but he didn't turn around but he continued up the stairs, the whole common room looked at me and then looked to see where Ron had gone. I shook my head to myself and walked towards the portrait room knowing that I should leave Ron at the moment as he was obviously upset. I promised to myself that I would speak to him when I next saw him, or I would send an owl when I replied to Cedric's letter.

As I stepped out of the portrait confusion continued to hit me, as I didn't understand what had just happened. This thought plagued my mind all night as I was helping Harry with his summoning spell and as time went on through the night I began to wonder what extremes had Ron gone to to cause him to wince in pain like that.


	8. Chapter 8

**I am really enjoying writing this story as I am finding new ideas for it. Thanks for the ongoing support. Enjoy!**

* * *

When I got to the classroom Harry was in my conversation with Ron and his reaction to me putting my hand on his shoulder was still playing through my mind. I decided on definitely writing a letter to Ron, he needed me like Harry needed me. As I walked into the classroom I must have been wearing a scowl on my face as Harry looked up at me as he was trying to summon a green bean bag. What attracted my attention was the green bean bag landing on the floor I glanced at it quickly then looked at a very worried looking Harry.

"What has he done?" Harry asked as he threw the bean bag to the other end of the room so he could try to summon it again.

"Nothing, just wanted to talk" I said pulling out a seat from a desk and put my bag on the top. I watched as Harry tried again to summon the bean bag, it came closer to him this time but not enough to grab it. I watched again as he flung it to the other end of the room before trying again.

"Has he upset you?" He asked sitting on the edge of my desk. I shook my head but this mustn't have seemed enough because Harry sighed and also shook his head.

"He hasn't" I confirmed. "It was just a weird conversation" I added looking up at Harry who was watching my face. He didn't say anything and I knew that this was a cue for me to continue.

"Promise not to be mad?" I said as I watched his eyes squint slightly in suspicion then open fully before nodding his head. Again not saying a word as my cue.

"He wants me help to make things right with you, he thinks he's been a crap best friend to us both and I told him that you heard everything that he said in the court-yard" I said still watching his face. Harry still stayed quiet for a couple of seconds then got up off the desk and picked his wand back up.

"You think I'll be mad at you for telling him?" he asked as he pointed his wand at the bean bags.

"Well yeah, I didn't know whether you wanted him knowing" I muttered undoing the fastenings on my bag. I picked out my book and placed it on the desk. Harry turned around to face me and bit his lip.

"I'm not mad at you, he needed to know. We both miss him, and I do want to fix it. It's just at the minute everytime I see him I see red. He said that I wanted the fame as it's what my parents would have wanted, and that I have always loved the spotlight on me. I'm not even going to bother to comment on the rest" he said and I saw his curled up fists start to shake and his voice broke at the end of the sentence.

"Harry calm down or you will end up snapping you're wand in two" I exclaimed and with this Harry released his grip. He put his wand on the desk again, went to the other side of the room and started to scatter bean bags all around the room rather than just using one. By the time he had scattered all 24 bean bags around the room he seemed to have calmed down. When he came back to pick his wand back up he smiled at me.

"Thanks for doing this Mione, I don't know where I would be without you" he said smiling at me.

"No problem Harry you know I'll always help you" I said smiling "you better get practising though Harry we need to nail this for tomorrow" I quickly added and with this Harry dove straight back into practising whilst I wrote Cedric and Ron's letters.

* * *

_"Cedric,_

_I know as well, promise not to say anything but I'm with Harry at the moment. I'm not technically helping him, just sitting with him while he practices._ Do you know what you are going to do?

_Calm down, I'm sure you will be fine. If you can take down Malfoy for me you can manage a dragon, just remember I'll be rooting for you my white knight._

_I won't hide my feelings away from you, as long as you won't hide yours away from me, deal?_

_Hermione"_

* * *

_"Ron,_

_I'm sending you this because I am worried and also I think you are more likely to tell me over letter than to my face, what is going on? I barely put my hand on your shoulder and you winced in pain. Please tell me, you're one of my best friends and it might not feel like it but I am here for you, like I am for Harry._

_I mentioned that you wanted to fix things with him and he did say that he does miss you, so you have a good chance to fix this. However it needs to come from you not me Ron, he heard what you said about him and his parents and he is hurting a lot from it._

_If you would rather speak to me face to face rather than reply by letter then that is up to you, but please Ron I'm worried about you._

_Hermione"_

* * *

"Hemione look" I heard Harry say as I finished writing Ron's letter. I looked up and Harry had a grin on his face, I smiled back and realised that he had a blue green bag in his hand. Harry put the bean bag on the desk and turned around to face another bean bag.

"Accio" Harry said swooping his wand and the bean bag came towards him and landed in his hand. I jumped up and walked towards him and hugged him.

"Well done Harry I knew you would do it" I said pulling away from him.

"You want to go back to the common room we can finish there, at least there it will be nearly empty and we won't get caught by Peeves or a prefect" Harry said smiling.

"Yeah, but can we go to the Owlry first I need to send a couple of letters?" I asked packing my bag up as Harry was putting the bean bags away, after he was finished he nodded and we put the invisibility clock around us and quietly left the room.

It was a slow walk to the Owlry and a somewhat dangerous one as well, we were caught nearly by Peeves, Professor Moody and a prefect. I saw Cedric walking towards the basement, he must have been going back to his common room after training for tomorrow.

When we got to the Owrly I used two of the school's owl s to send both of the letters, I watched as both of them left the Owlry. I began to hope that I wasn't going to wake Cedric or Ron up, but pushing that thought from my mind I got back underneath the the cloak to get back to our common room to help Harry practice for tomorrow.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry it's a short chapter, but it will be worth the wait, thank you for the on-going support.**

* * *

I got up the next day around half eight, still tired from the night before after a long night practising making sure that Harry could summon anything to him without fail we both went to bed around four in the morning, knowing that we needed to be up around half nine was quite daunting to the both of us.

After getting ready I met a very quiet and nervous Harry, he was standing wearing his red and black twiwizard uniform staring out of the window, when I looked to see what he was looking at I saw a stadium had been built up in the grounds next to the forbidden forest. I reached down and gave Harry's hand a quick squeeze, this action must have disturbed his thoughts as he seemed to jump slightly.

"Sorry I didn't know you were there" he said as I released his hand his face quickly looking at mine before looking back out of the window.

"Sorry that I gave you a shock" I said quickly. I watched Harry shake his head and then turn away from the window.

"You didn't Mione" he said as he pulled his school cloak over his shoulders "Walk with me to breakfast and the tent?" he asked nervously. I nodded and took a quick walk to the great hall to have something.

When we got there Harry would only eat a slice of toast, even though I tried to encourage him to eat more. The post came and I noticed three owls coming mine and Harry's way. One owl landed next to Harry and two next to me, the three of them quickly left as soon as the letters weren't tethered to them anymore. As Harry read his letter that was no doubt from Sirus I opened the first letter of mine.

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_I won't tell anyone I promise, however it is giving him an unfair advantage mind, I hope you extend that curiosity to me next time. No I'm kidding you need to be there for Harry, he needs a friends right now._

_Yes I know what I am going to do, but I'll leave that as a surprise for you. Hope you like it. _

_I'm glad you can be so optimistic, hopefully my plan works and you can congratulate your white knight later on tonight._

_That's a deal Miss Granger, are you under the impression that I have been hiding something from you?_

_Cedric"_

* * *

I looked up towards the Hufflepuff table and saw Cedric sat with breakfast on his plate, but like Harry he wasn't eating a thing. I quickly dropped my gaze back to my plate before anyone noticed that I was staring at him and opened the second letter.

* * *

_"Mione,_

_I got quite a shock when an owl was trying to wake me up, I didn't know who would be writing to me, but as soon as I saw the writing I knew it was you._

_I know you are worried and that you will want to know what is going on however I'd rather not do it over letter anyone could find this. Can we meet up and sit together for the first task and I'll tell you everything._

_Ron"_

* * *

I looked up and saw Ron sat next to Fred and George, he noticed me looking at him and I nodded at him. He smiled and nodded back; Harry looked up from his letter and saw me smiling at Ron.

"You'll be sitting with him throughout the task?" he asked looking into my face.

"Yeah, I'm going to meet him after I have walked to the tent with you" I answered watching his reaction. Harry just nodded and picked his piece of toast up and took a bite. We didn't really say much more to each other, we walked out of the great hall and there were eyes on me and Harry. As we left we noticed that this had prompted Fleur, Victor and Cedric to leave the great hall to make their way to the first task.

I walked Harry to the entrance of the tent and watched as the others walked in, Cedric and Victor smiled at me as he walked past and I saw them go and sit down in their sections of the tents. I turned around and faced Harry and gave him a hug.

"You'll be fine Harry, just remember to really want it. You're firebolt will come to you" I said still hugging him.

"Yeah thanks Hermione, I'll see you soon. I hope" he said with a slight laugh at the end of the sentence. The judges had started to appear with Rita Skeeta so I stayed and watched Harry walk into the tent just before Dumbledore walked past me.

"You'll have to hurry if you want a good seat to cheer Harry on Miss Granger" he said with a smile as he walked past.

"Yes Professor Dumbledore" I said as I walked away from the tent to find Ron.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you for your reviews so far, I am really enjoying writing this and I am thrilled that you are enjoying reading it. This is a nice long chapter for you; hopefully this will fill in a few spaces and answer a few questions for you.**

* * *

I met Ron outside of the entrance of the stadium; there was barely anyone here as they were still eating their breakfast. We quickly found seats in the front row; we were going to have a good view for the task I thought to myself. I was sat next to the wall and I waited a couple of minutes before turning around to see Ron, who was watching me closely. I opened my mouth and he raised his hand to stop me, my brow came together in confusion.

"Mione, I want you to promise that if I tell you that it stays between us" he raised his hand again to stop me before continuing "and also promise me that you will let me tell you the whole story before you comment" I nodded and understood that he needed this from me to be able to get my help and understanding.

"Right, please don't be mad at me first off all" he started my eyes came together in suspicion. What had he done now? I thought to myself, knowing Ron something horrible but no doubt that it was in the heat of the moment. Whilst I was thinking to myself Ron carried on.

"After our row in the common room I felt alone and excluded and you and Harry seemed so close. When I came to see you the day after Mione it broke my heart to see how much I had hurt you. When Harry told me to back off when I came to see you at the lake I knew I had to listen to him. Seeing you hug him like that and crying like that I know I have made you cry before and I hate myself for it but you can't hate me as much as I hate myself" his face dropped into sadness and I couldn't help myself. I wrapped my arm lightly around his shoulder and lightly rested my head on his shoulder. Ron wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer. I noticed this time that he didn't wince in pain this time and this made me wonder was he better?

"Ron I don't hate you, and neither does Harry not really" I whispered and I felt Ron's arm pull my closer and quickly release his grip but he was still hugging me.

"I think deep down I knew this but it still didn't stop me feeling it. I sat with Neville, Dean and Seamus but I barely spoke to them. I barely slept and barely ate anything. That's how you know how bad it was" he said laughing slightly.

"Yeah something that stops you eating must be bad" I said trying to make a light joke. I looked up at his face and his blue eyes were watching my face as if to gage my reaction.

"Yeah" he said quickly with a slight chuckle. It was quiet for a couple of seconds before he continued.

"That day when I was slagging Harry off in the court yard was a big mistake, the things I said I never should have and I only said them because I was mad at Harry and you. Everytime me and you have an argument he always manages to stay in the middle, I'm not saying that is a bad thing. But I was also mad at him for putting his name in the Goblet of fire, which I don't believe now and haven't for quite a while now" he said still watching my reaction. When I didn't comment he continued.

"After saying what I said I regretted it straight away, but then I left the court yard on my own and I bumped into Mad Eye and he told me that Charlie was coming to the school. When I said that I didn't understand what he meant he told me to be at the edge of the Forbidden Forest at eight that night and it would make sense. So that night I did what he said and I saw Charlie and the four lovely dragons that he had brought with him. Charlie nagged me a little bit for seeing them, but he understood why I needed to see him after I had told him what had happened. He told me that I needed to fix it with Harry and you and that's why I came to see you the next day. I was going to anyway but seeing Charlie made me do it sooner".

Hearing Ron's side of things made me feel sad, what he had went through on his own; even though he did cause it himself it was a lot to deal with on his own. I pulled out of the hug as people started to appear in the stadium which showed that the first task was about to start. Ron watched me and looked at what I was looking at and nodded his head. He sat up straight but moved his body so he was facing me so he could finish his story.

"I'll hurry up as I don't want people to find out, but as I was talking to Charlie one of the dragon's got loose and went on a rampage and I tried to help Charlie and the other keepers but I got a little too close to the dragon. Put it this way Mione, I had to go and see Madam Pomfrey and have burn cream put nearly everywhere and she had to tend to quite a few claw marks on my body" he said quietly as people started to sit next to us. This caused me to gasp in horror realising that Ron had been hurt by a dragon and that he had kept it all to himself for weeks.

"After I spoke to you I realised how I could make it up to Harry and I made sure that Harry would find out about the dragons one way or another. So I hinted onto Hagrid a couple of days after that Harry would like to see the dragons and it wasn't classed as cheating as the other champions were going to be able to see them. I knew this because when I was helping Charlie I saw Hagrid with Madam Maxime. Hagrid seemed to like this idea, I went to see Charlie every night and he would ask how things were going and I would tell him" he said quickly as Neville and Dean had sat next to him.

"So that's where you kept disappearing to?" I muttered and Ron quickly nodded.

"That's what you meant when you said you were fixing it as well?" I asked and Ron nodded again.

"It wasn't easy though I tried a couple of other things first, like actually telling Harry but that didn't work. We just argued and he told me to leave him alone, at that point I didn't tell him about the dragons. It was only when Hagrid took him to see them that my plan actually worked. I don't think he knows it was me that hinted to Hagrid to tell him" he muttered watching out of the side of his eyes towards Neville and Dean. They mustn't have heard anything as they were too engrossed in their conversation.

"Well the main thing is that he does know about the dragons and he was able to prepare for them, but you need to tell him what you told me. That way it will get fixed and we won't need to be going through all of this separately. Ron simply nodded and his eyes like everyone else's dropped into the middle of the stadium as Professor Dumbledore and the rest of the judges had walked out and stood on something that looked like a small stage.

"Welcome to the first task of the twiwizard tournament" Professor Dumbledore shouted and the whole crowd went quiet.

"Today our champions will battle to redeem something that they will need for them to be able to continue in this tournament" he continued as a large metal box was brought into the stadium covered by a dark green cloth and was pushed by at least eight people.

"I must ask that you stay quiet throughout the task as we don't want to startle what they have in store. So every time the keepers wake the beast up you need to be quiet or you will endanger yourselves, and the champions" as he finished saying this he span his wand around and the cover disappeared and showed a sleeping dragon.

The keepers quickly levitated the dragon out and put it in his bindings and then they ran in different directions all over to the edge of the stadium moving the cage with them as they went.

"To accomplish this task each champion must obtain a golden egg from the dragon, points will be awarded to the champions on how they do this. Good luck champions and enjoy" said Dumbledore and he and the rest of the judges left the stadium and took their seats in the judge platform. When they were settled the last keepers span his wand and woke the dragon up. We all got a shock when it roared.

The task seemed to past very quick we all got a shock as a cannon sounded and Cedric entered the stadium first. The whole crowd was quiet. I watched as he walked into the centre of the stadium and he looked around at the crowd above him and I saw a smile spread across his face when he looked in my direction. He then turned his attention to his dragon, a Swedish Short-Snout. He looked so uncertain and nervous, which is understandable. He looked quickly glanced at his dragon before twirling his wand and pointing it at a rock, a couple of seconds later it changed into a dog. The dragon didn't know where to look as Cedric and the dog started running around the stadium in different directions. It was at this point that I realised that Cedric was trying to confuse the dragon with a diversion, and it was working. The Swedish Short-Snout turned all its attention to the dog. This is when my smile turned into a face of shock and horror as this is when Cedric went for the Golden egg. Halfway through, the dragon turned its attention back to Cedric, and burned his face. Cedric retrieved the egg, however, and passed the task. The stadium erupted into a roar of cheers and I couldn't help but join them. I had three friends that were participating in this tournament so I was going to be biased with them, no offence to Fleur.

Second to come out of the tent after a cannon booming was Fleur, who faced a Common Welsh Green. She enchanted the dragon to sleep I thought this was very good and wondered how she done it. However I felt she could have walked a bit faster, she seemed too interested in the crowd watching her and took a very long and slow stroll across the stadium. As she got to the dragon's nest she waved to her friends in the crowd and then screamed in pain, the dragon had snored and let out a jet of flame that set her skirt alight. She extinguished the flames, and retrieved her egg. Leaving the stadium very quickly, finally.

As I sat waiting for the next person to enter the stadium I wondered whether it would be Harry or Victor. I knew Harry would be sat with his head in his hands waiting for his name to be called. My question was answered when Victor walked into the stadium, quickly after his cannon and he was facing a Chinese Fireball. He used the Conjunctivitis Curse to blind the dragon and retrieve his egg. This seemed to work until the dragon stumbled around and smashed half of the real eggs, however Victor was quick enough to pick up his golden egg before the dragon done any damage. He quickly left the stadium as the crowd roared at his success.

The whole stadium went quiet again as we all knew who was coming out this time and everyone was eager to know how he was going to manage his dragon. We watched as the Hungarian Horntail was brought into the stadium by its keepers. I felt sorry for Harry as it looked vicious, angrier than the other three we had just seen. When the stadium was settled the cannon finally sounded, it seemed like forever before we saw Harry emerge from the tent, his face looked really pale and he kept his movements very slow. He kept walking towards the dragon until he stopped in the middle of the stadium; he glanced up to my direction and then pointed his wand to the sky. Everyone started looking around to see what he was doing, but no one could see what Harry was doing. Harry was staring up to the sky, his face full of concentration. It seemed to go on forever and the crowd was getting restless as it looked like he wasn't doing anything. Then I saw it and I knew Harry had as well as his firebolt was moving quickly into the stadium. At this point the dragon was restless and was stomping around trying to get out of his bindings. As it blew fire at Harry he jumped onto his firebolt and started to fly up into the crowd. The crowd started to roar as they watched Harry circle above the dragon trying to figure a way to get the egg. This was answered for Harry as the dragon broke his bindings and flew straight for Harry. Harry being the flier he was moved out of the way quickly and ducked to try and get the egg. However when he came back up his robe was on fire. I saw the keepers start to circle the stadium incase they needed to get involved. Harry flew higher and the dragon followed him, Harry swooped under the dragon and I saw him head for the nest. Harry quickly ducked into the nest and grabbed the egg just before the dragon got back to her nest. Harry quickly flew around the stadium to escape the dragon, earning him he crowd to roar and scream at him. Harry had got to the egg in the quickest time. As Harry quickly used his firebolt to escape the dragon to fly into the tent the keepers quickly trapped the dragon and got her back into her bindings and out of the stadium.

The stadium quickly changed into a stage and the judge sat behind a table, Professor Dumbledore announced that the first task was over and now we had to learn how the rankings in the tournament currently was held, but first we had to welcome our champions back into the stadium. The crowd went wild as all four champions rejoined us some looking worse for wear. First of all Cedric came out holding his wand in one arm and his egg in another with a brown pad wrapped around the right side of his face, showing that Madam Pomfrey had been to tend to him. Secondly Fleur came out again holding her wand and egg, her only causality her burnt skirt. Thirdly Victor came out holding his wand and egg above his head. Finally Harry came out with his firebolt slung across his shoulder and his other arm wrapped around his egg and wand. He looked happier with himself, like Harry he had a brown pad on his left arm and shoulder, obviously treating the burn that he had just sustained.

Professor Dumbledore then calmed the crowd down, and we all moved our eyes to him. He watched the crowd and smiled before turning to the champions.

"In third place we have Fleur Delacour" he shouted pausing to allow the crowd to cheer for her, he then raised his hand to silence us again before continuing.

"In second place we have Cedric Diggory" he roared and the Hogwarts crowd erupted into cheers and screaming, again Dumbledore silenced us before continuing.

"Finally in joint first place we have Harry Potter and Victor Krum" he roared finally and the whole stadium erupted for a final time this time it took Dumbledore to silence us.

"Now before we go and celebrate, the champions need to know that the Golden egg they retrieved contained a clue on how to pass the Second Task. You have plenty of time to figure it out and you will get a nice long break, but don't wait until the last minute champions. The second task is going to be on the 22nd of February, good luck champions and enjoy your celebrations" Professor Dumbledore shouted before leaving with the champions and the judges.

I and Ron left the stadium as quickly as the crowds would allow us to go and find Harry, as I was walking towards the tent I pulled Ron to one side and looked into his face as it was full of confusion.

"You're not going anywhere Ron, you need to fix this and you need to fix it now" I said pulling him into the tent with me. When we walked in we saw that Rita Skeeta was floating around trying to get a story no doubt and that the tent was split into four sections. The first section had Cedric in with his family, the second had Fleur in with some people who I assumed to be her family, Krum sat on his own with Karkaroff and finally I saw Harry. He was sat on his own his staring at Rita with a frown on his face. She had obviously had upset him somehow, I saw her head snap into Harry's direction when she saw me and Ron walk towards Harry.

Harry's face lit up when he saw me and I quickly pulled him into a hug and whispered "well done" in his ear. When I pulled away I heard a snap and saw a flash of smoke and turned to see Rita Skeeta looking at us with a grin on her face. My face immediately dropped into shock and realised what she had just done.

"Ah young love!" she shouted and everyone stopped and looked in the tent in our direction, I saw Cedric shake his head and Victor wear a scowl on his face.

"So Harry this is the girl you have been hiding from the world?" Rita added quickly before anyone could say anything. Before me and Harry could answer anything Victor walked over and stood in front of Rita. He was taller than her and I think his build intimidated her a little bit. He was still wearing a scowl on his face.

"This is a place for champions and friends, you have no place here" he said Rita stepped back and looked at me and Harry and back to Victor. To our surprise a grin spread across her face.

"It's okay, we have everything we are after anyway" he said and walked out of the tent with her photographer following her.

"Thanks Victor" I said giving him a hug too. He smiled, nodded then quickly bowed before going back to his section of the tent.

When I turned around I saw Harry and Ron looking at each other, they didn't look angry but they weren't saying anything to each other either.

"You need to sort this out both of you" I said to them both and they both nodded but still didn't say anything. I sighed and shook my head before continuing.

"I'm going to walk back to the castle and by the time I see you both outside of the common room this needs to be fixed"

Both Ron and Harry nodded at me and I left the tent quickly smiling at Cedric as I walked past and endured the twenty minute walk back to the castle on my own hoping that when I did see my two best friends that things would be somewhat back to normal.


	11. Chapter 11

**Here is the latest instalment to this story, thank you for your ongoing support and enjoy!**

* * *

I stood outside the common room for what seemed like fifteen minutes before I noticed Harry and Ron walking up the staircases below me. I tried to figure out whether they were now on talking terms by the way they were acting with each other. They were at least talking to each other so that must be a good sign surely? The answer to my question was answered very quickly when they both got to me, they both looked at me and for a couple of seconds we stood like this. Then Harry grinned at me.

"Thank heavens for that" I said walking towards them and pulling them both into a hug. As I pulled away we all smiled at each other, I was glad to have my two best friends back. I knew we would argue again, especially me and Ron, but this argument for some reason seemed so final. I'm glad that we were able to fix things.

"We better get you in the common room Harry, the whole common room wants to celebrate with you" I said as the portrait of the fat lady opened and screams and cheers fled out of the common room. Me, Harry and Ron stepped into the common room and the night went quite fast but I did know this that I was now more content and I knew things were going to be okay.

* * *

After a very late night of celebrating I walked upstairs and I got a shock when I saw a dark brown owl staring at me. I quickly untied the letter but the owl didn't move and as I quickly glanced to the outside of the letter and I knew exactly who it was off.

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_This might seem forward and I hope you don't think it is too weird that you find my owl waiting for you after your celebrations with Harry._

_Just wondered whether we could have a quick chat, I know it's late and I do apologise if this hinders you in any way. Please don't feel obligated if you don't want to._

_If you do however I'll meet you in the sixth floor corridor next to the statue of the beheaded pixie._

_Send word back as soon as you can whether you can or can't. It's ok if you are too tired - I'll understand. Maybe another time?_

_Cedric"_

* * *

This letter caught me off guard a little bit, what would he want to see me about at this hour. I put the letter down into my locked bedside table with the rest of them and locked it. Picked another piece of parchment up and quickly wrote "see you soon" on a piece of paper. I attached the letter onto the owl's leg and it quickly flew off.

I tidied myself up a little bit and walked back down into the common room, there were people still in the common room but I moved very quietly hoping no one would notice me. I crept out of the portrait and quickly but quietly walked to the sixth floor corridor.

As I made my way to the corridor I noticed a shadow at the end of the corridor, hoping it was who I thought it was I kept walking. As soon as I got close enough I realised that it was Cedric leant against the window ledge. When he noticed that it was me he stood up and smiled. I smiled back and wrapped both my arms around me.

"So what's so important that you drag me out of bed?" I say laughing; Cedric laughed back but still didn't say anything. Instead he looked down both sides of the corridor and walked past me and to the statue of the beheaded pixie and tapped it four times on the foot. To my astonishment this opened a doorway, Cedric gestured that I go first and I walked ahead of him.

It was a small chamber that I could describe as a little den, it had a fireplace in it and it seemed to be divided into two small rooms by a dark green sofa. On one side there was a bed and a desk and on the other there was a small table and a bookcase. My jaw dropped as I looked around wondering how I never realised that this existed, but then the thought clicked on that there was places in this castle that I was never going to see.

"I found it in my fourth year, no one else to seems to come here. I have changed it slightly as it was a complete mess when I found it. Found it by accident hiding from Professor Snape. No one else knows this is here, apart from me and you now" Cedric said as I was still looking around. I glanced up at him to see him smiling.

"It's very nice, that still doesn't explain my question. Not that I'm complaining it's just we haven't really had much of a conversation face to face have we? That didn't involve me being on the floor" I said laughing again at a past joke.

"Well if it makes you feel any better you could sit on the floor and I could pick you back up?" Cedric replied with a cheeky grin.

"No that's not necessary" I said as I sat down on the sofa. Cedric came and sat next to me and laughed again. He then looked at me and noticed that my arms were still wrapped around me.

"You cold?" he asked and when I nodded he took his wand out.

"Incendio" he said and the fireplace lit up and started to warm the room up nicely.

"To answer your question it might seem pointless but it seems everyone else gets to spend time with you and I don't and that's not very fair" he said still joking. "I like writing letters to you don't get me wrong but I want to be an actual friend rather than a pen pal, and you never answered a question in my last letter".

"You are a real friend; we just haven't really made time to spend time together. And what question would this be Mr Diggory?" I asked glancing up at his face, I couldn't read his emotions and I didn't know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"In my last letter I asked whether you thought I was hiding something. You never answered so that made me curious" he said with a smirk on his face.

"Oh" I muttered, wondering where this was going.

"Yeah? I'm not hiding anything from you, well nothing that would make you run away screaming from me. I hope" he said pulling a worried face. I pulled my brow together in confusion.

"I don't know whether you're joking or not" I commented and at this Cedric started laughing.

"Yes I am kidding. Anything you want to know just ask and I'll answer" he stated.

"I don't think you are hiding something from me as such it's just I don't understand why you would bother with someone like me. I understand after that night you found me upset you obviously wanted to make sure I was okay, but I didn't understand the rest of the letters" I said quickly releasing a thought that had been on my mind. Why would the heartthrob of the school want anything to do with the know it all Hermione Granger?

"Someone like you?" was all he said, and this I assumed was my cue to explain what I meant.

"Well you have every girl at the school worshiping the ground you walk on and I spend most of my school life in the library in a book. Why would someone like you want to waste his time of someone like me?" I asked hoping that this explained it to him. The fact was I was very insecure about myself and getting to know Cedric was a big deal for me, I felt as if I was opening myself to someone that could make me or break me.

"Hermione I might be thought of as the heart throb of the school, but that's not the case. You are right I am hiding something but not from you, from everyone else" this confused me even more. I really didn't know where this conversation was going.

"Cedric I don't understand" I said hoping that I didn't look like an idiot to him.

"I know this might sound stupid and if you don't like what I say then you are free to go and don't write to me again. But Hermione I'm expected to be that character around school, I never asked for it or like it. I might be deemed as the heart throb but have you ever seen me with a string of girls?" I took a little bit of time to digest that, Cedric didn't like or want to be the heart throb and when I did think about it whenever I did see him it was always with friends, I did see him with an occasional girl but it never looked like he was romantically involved. But what would I know I have no experience in that area.

"I'm not going anywhere Cedric, and I've never seen you with a string of girls but quite a few follow you. I think it's just because all I've seen is what everyone else sees" Cedric didn't answer he just watched me; I hoped that I didn't upset him.

"Oh, I didn't mean anything by that; I can tell I'm getting to know the real Cedric by the letters I've been getting. He's a guy worth knowing" I said and then I put my hand on his forearm. He smiled at me and then put his hand over mine and gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

"The Cedric in your letters is the guy I want to be, and as strange as this sounds but I feel I can only be myself around you" he said and his eyes were burning into mine.

"Same to you" I muttered moving my eyes away from Cedric. When I looked into Cedric's eye's I get this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach and I can't explain it or understand why. This caused Cedric to chuckle and this made me bite my lip, what was he laughing at?

"It's just we both seem two different people to the outside world but infact we are both the same kind of people. We wear masks as we are insecure about ourselves and worried that we don't live up to other people's expectations" Cedric whispered.

"You understand better than you let on" I whispered and out of the corner of my eye I saw Cedric nod. I looked back up at him and noticed that he looked sad.

"So was the main reason to see me to ask that question or was it to spend time with me?" I asked rubbing my left eye as sleep was starting to set in.

"Both, sorry" he said moving his hand from mine. "You look shattered I shouldn't have asked to meet you" he quickly added as he quickly stood up and walked towards the fireplace.

"Don't be sorry Cedric, I wanted to. I'm enjoying getting to know the real Cedric, I feel as if I can be myself with you, I'm myself to a certain degree with Harry and Ron but with you it seems effortless, given the short time we have known each other" I said also standing up and following him to the fireplace. I put my hand on his left shoulder and this caused him to turn around and gaze into my face. My stomach started to go tight and flutter as his eyes burned into mine I smiled at him and he smiled back. We stood like this for a couple of minutes staring at each other and then I yawned. This caused Cedric to chuckle.

"As much as I wish we could stay here and talk about our insecurities all night, someone is very tired" he said with a cheeky grin. I chuckled and sighed, not really wanting to leave.

"It's been a long day, I wish I could stay longer though" I commented quickly, hoping that I didn't seem desperate to stay in his company.

"It's nice to know you want to stay and talk with me, but it would be ungallant as a knight to make a damsel stay up all night" he said laughing.

"Well as you put it like that" I said sarcastically laughing. I turned around to start walking out but something stopped me, Cedric had his hand on my forearm. I turned around confused and he pulled me closer and into a hug.

"Sorry" he whispered into my hair "everyone else has had a hug today I had to steal one from you" he quickly added. He slowly pulled away and I noticed that he had a grin on his face.

"That's okay, steal as many as you want" I said yawning again. I didn't realise that I was so tired, I rubbed my eye again.

"I'm glad you said that" he said and quickly pulled me into another quick hug before taking my hand and walking out with me out of the passage way. He let go off my hand when we got back into the corridor. I looked up at him and he shook his head.

"Hope you don't mind me taking your hand like that" he said and when I shook my head he quickly added "I only let go because I don't think we need any more rumours circulating. It's not that I don't want to".

He seemed nervous and I wondered why. Shaking this thought from my head I looked up at him.

"No we don't" I quickly commented. He looked disappointed as if I was going to say something else. But he left it there.

We walked back in pretty much silence but Cedric watched my face the whole time as if he was trying to read my face or figure out what I was thinking. When we got to my common room we stared at each other for a couple of seconds.

"There you go, you can't say that I haven't been the perfect white knight as ever" he said smiling and joking on by dipping inot a low bow.

"Thanks, how could I ever repay you" I said grinning back at him.

"Write to me?" he asked and I nodded.

"Goodbye Miss Granger, try to keep out of trouble" I watched as he turned around and walked down the staircase. I watched until he was out of sight then I walked into the common room and up the stairs. I quickly got changed into my pjarmers and my eyes closed as soon as my head touched the pillow. Funnily enough this was the first night that I dreamt of Cedric Diggory.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for supporting me this far, hope you like this next chapter. I'll try to update soon.**

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_I hope you are well this morning, sorry for dragging you out of bed last night. You looked really tired; maybe I should have chosen a better night to ask rather than after the first task. It's just I needed to spend some time with someone who doesn't expect me to be someone I'm not._

_I'm glad that you wanted to spend time with me even thought it was only for a little while. I feel as if you are the only one that understands and the only person that I can truly be myself around. Hope you don't mind, if you do please tell me I would rather you let me know so I am not hindering or embarrassing you in anyway._

_Cedric"._

* * *

_"Cedric_

_Yes I am well this morning, are you? Don't be sorry I enjoyed it even though it was just for a short while. We could have stayed longer, yes I was tired but if you needed to speak to me I would have stayed. Maybe next time could be longer?_

_Yes I do want to spend time with you, you are an amazing guy. I should be the one that's glad because you want to spend some time with me. We seem to be on the same page you are the only one that understands my situation. _

_I don't mind and I certainly don't want you to leave me alone, so please don't say that._

_Hermione"._

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_Yeah I am, I'm glad we had our little chat. You said next time, so you would like to meet up again?_

_I don't know why you would be the one that should feel grateful that I spend time with you, shouldn't it be the other way round? It seems that we really are two peas in a pod._

_Sorry about today but I really couldn't help myself, please don't be mad at me._

_Cedric"._

* * *

_"Cedric,_

_Yes I would like there to be a next time, I enjoyed speaking to you and spending time with you. Would you like to meet again?_

_We are definitely two peas in a pod._

_It's okay, like I have said before if my white knight sees fit to get involved in one of my battles who am I to argue. I had Parkinson under control but nevermind; I've told you the word mudblood doesn't affect me._

_If I asked you a question would you be honest with me, regardless whether you thought it hurt my feelings?_

_Hermione"_

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_Of course I would like to meet up again, maybe in our secret room? At least there we both know that rumours aren't going to start as no one can see us. Does that sound like a good idea or would you prefer to meet somewhere else?_

_I didn't know that I just saw that she was arguing with you and that you looked upset. How was I to know? Sorry it's just I am very protective over those who I care about; I'll try to keep out of the way._

_I'm worried Hermione, this question must be something of concern if you think my reaction and answer would hurt your feelings. Yes I will answer honestly, I promised I would before and I also promised not to hide my feelings from you like you did with me, remember?_

_Cedric"_

* * *

_"Cedric,_

_Yeah that sounds good, the last thing we need is rumours, could you imagine it that I'm seen with three of the champions. That would look very good wouldn't it? I liked how you called it "our" room, technically it is your room, and I am merely a guest._

_It's fine; it was funny seeing her run away with boils exploding on her face, an inch too far perhaps? I understand that you are protective over those you care about, like I am over you, Harry, Ron, Victor and Ginny._

_Okay, when you let go of my hand after leaving "our" room you looked disappointed, have I done something wrong? Please tell me whether I have or not as this has been on my mind. I would have said something however when I'm tired I'm not as observant._

_Hermione"._

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_Well it is "our" room; no one else knows that it exists. If you wish to remain a guest for now then we will leave it._

_It might have been a step too far, but saying that she called you something that makes me deem what I did ok._

_Is this something we can discuss face to face? I'd rather it that way. Don't worry._

_Cedric"._

* * *

_"Cedric,_

_I will remain a guest for now? That implies that I will be hiding in there all of the time, not that doesn't sound tempting because it does._

_Yeah that's fine; however I can't hide the fact that I am a little concerned. Sorry I'm a worrier and read into things far too much._

_Hope your day is going ok, I saw Cho hanging around you today. What will your adoring public think? I'm kidding._

_Hermione"._

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_That's your choice but as you're knight I suggest you change your mind. You're free to use it whenever you want; however can it just stay between us. It's not that I don't like Harry but I'd rather it was kept a secret. It's my hideaway from the stress and strain, sorry if that sounds horrible._

_No need to be concerned dear, I would just rather it was a conversation that was done face to face. Also it gives me another reason to "drag you out of bed" haha._

_My day is going ok I suppose. I've noticed more girls are following me, and you'll know that this is something that I love...not! I hate being expected to be the ladies' man and I know these girls are only bothering with me because they want to be known as a champion's girlfriend. If I did ask one of them out they would no doubt drop me like a bag of goblins spit after this tournament is over. Cho is one of them girls unfortunately, she seems a nice girl, but she doesn't feel right for me._

_Cedric"._

* * *

_"Cedric,_

_Of course, I understand that you need your own space. I wouldn't intrude on that or cause any hassle on it. I might use it every now and again when I need to hide away or concentrate on my work when the library is too populated with screaming girls following Victor._

_You sound too happy to drag me out of bed, not very gallant for a Knight really?_

_I know you don't like it, and I do feel for you. I haven't been in that situation so I do feel as if I am unequipped to advise you further on this. I'm sorry._

_Hermione"._

* * *

_"Hermione,_

_Thanks, hope I didn't sound too harsh. I can imagine how that would be annoying for Victor, I'm not an international quidditch player but I do get girls fan girling when I walk past._

_No it doesn't sound very gallant but surely dragging you out of bed to speak to me and spend time with me must be a pleasure not a chore Miss Granger?_

_There is no reason to be sorry, and that is nothing to be ashamed of._

_Cedric"._

* * *

_"Cedric,_

It didn't sound harsh at all so don't worry about it - I understand. Girls have been fan girling you, I have never been seeing that, how does that go?

Hmm I suppose I could deem it as a pleasure not a chore Cedric, spending time with my white knight.

You might say that's nothing to be ashamed of, but it doesn't stop me being embarrassed by it. That's another reason why the rumours upset me that are going around as they are as far from the truth than it can possibly go. Sorry I'm waffling but writing these letters are giving me a distraction from my Ancient Runes essay - silver lining?

Hermione"

* * *

"Hermione,

I'm surprised that you have never seen it; basically they involved girls pretending to faint, a lot of high-pitched noises and shaking.

You suppose? Now that doesn't sound very nice Miss Granger.

As long as you know the truth nothing else matters. I certainly don't think that of you and neither does your friends. If people are stupid enough to think the rumours are true then they obviously not worth knowing.

You can waffle all you want, I don't mind. Me a distraction?

Cedric"

* * *

"Cedric,

That sounds lovely, awww my poor knight.

I was kidding Mr Diggory, and I know that I know the truth and that's all that matters. It doesn't stop it hurting though.

Yes writing these letters are causing me a distraction. I'm currently sat in the library with Harry and Ron trying to finish this essay. Ron has already commented that I'm smiling like an idiot. However when I wouldn't give him an answer to why I was smiling he dropped it, I think this time he really understands that it's going to take a lot for me to trust him for a while. I know things will smooth out with use over time, it always does. I have missed having him around; I guess it will just take a little bit more time.

Hermione"

* * *

"Hermione,

Did you mean that or was that sarcasm? It not lovely at all, I can tell you that.

I know it doesn't stop it from hurting but if people are stupid enough to listen to the rumours then that is there fault. I know it's not an excuse but if they are gossiping about you they are leaving someone else alone and with time they will move onto someone else.

My letters causing you to smile are they? I didn't know that, maybe next time I send you one I'll make sure I'm around just so I can see you reaction. Things will get better with Ron, he's one of your best friends and it seems that he does slip up every now and again but he still wants to be around.

Cedric".

* * *

"Cedric,

I meant it; I can't believe you thought I was being sarcastic. I know it's not lovely and I understand what you are going through.

Thank you for your advice it has cheered me up. There is truth behind it and I hope soon they will move onto someone else.

Yes your letters are causing me to smile when I read them, aren't mine to you? Obviously I'm not being a good friend if this is not the case. That is up to you whether you want to see my reaction, however if I see you around when an owl is flying my way it might not be a true interpretation.

I know things will settle with Ron they always do, I guess that's the type of friendship we have. I know his heart is always in the right place; just at times he says the wrong things and doesn't mean it.

Hermione"

* * *

"Hermione,

I'm glad I was able to cheer you up; at least I am being of some use. I know you understand what I am going through, I'm kidding.

I'll just have to make sure that I'm more careful that you won't see me then. Another challenge set for your knight Granger?

Wondered whether you wanted to meet up on Saturday night? If you need to work on your homework that is mounting up from your "distraction" then that is fine. We can arrange another time?

Cedric"

* * *

"Cedric,

You do like your challenges don't you? If you want to make this a challenge then I'll try and make it harder for you.

Yeah we can do, what time? I'm assuming you want to meet in "your" room. I can bring my mounting homework with me; you never know you might find me there before you doing my homework.

Hermione".

* * *

"Hermione,

Yes I like my challenges, make it as hard as you want Granger. I WILL succeed.

Whatever time is best for you, and yes you assumed right. It's the only place apart from my dorm that my "adoring public" can't get to me. That's okay if I find you there before me. I said you could use it; just remember it's for taps on his left foot.

Cedric".

* * *

"Hermione,

Is everything okay? I haven't heard or seen you in two days. I'm starting to get worried, has something happened?

If all these letters are starting to take their toll please tell me and I'll leave you alone.

Cedric".

* * *

"Hermione,

Have I done something to upset you? I know you don't have to reply to me letters but I am starting to get worried.

Last time I saw you was three days ago and tomorrow is Saturday. I'm taking by your silence you don't want to meet up anymore?

Sorry if I am reading into things, it's just I am worried about you.

Cedric".


End file.
